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THE  LIBRARY 
OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


BEQUEST  OF 

Alice  R.   Hilgard 


LIFE   OF   MARTIN   LUTHER 

BY 

CHEVALIER  BUNSEN 

WITH  AN  ESTIMATE  OF  LUTHER'S 
CHARACTER  AND  GENIUS 

By  THOMAS  CARLYLE 

AND 

AN  APPENDIX 
By  SIR  WILLIAM  HAMILTON 


BOSTON   AND    NEW   YORK 

HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN  COMPANY 


GIFT 


PREFACE 


The  briefest,  most  reliable,  and,  taken 
til  in  all,  the  completest  extant  life  of  Lu- 
ther, is  this  contributed  by  the  Chevaher 
Bunsen  to  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica. 
Author  and  subject  need  no  praise  from 
us.  We  are  happy  to  place  within  the 
reach  of  all  a  good  and  trustworthy  sum- 
mary of  the  great  Reformer's  life. 

From  Carlyle  is  added  an  estimate  of 
Luther's  Character  and  Genius — one  of 
those  spiritual  portraits  for  which  Carlyle 
will  be  known  as  long  as  literature  en. 
dures,  and  on  which  his  feme  will  ulti- 
mately rest. 

Following  our  general  plan,  we  here 
give  a  biographical  sketch  of  the  author 
from  whom  the  Life  of  Luther  has  bees 
taken. 


M878971 


iv  Pr  efa  c  c . 

Bunsen,  Christian  Karl  Josias,  Che. 
valier  De,  a  philologist,  theologian  and 
diplomatist,  was  born  at  Corbach,  in  the 
small  German  principality  of  Waldeck,  on 
the  25th  of  August,  1791 ;  and  was  educated 
at  the  University  of  Gbttingen,  where  he 
studied  philology  under  the  famous  Heyne. 
He  distinguished  himself  greatly  as  a  clas- 
sical scholar,  and  in  1813  published  at 
Gbttingen  a  prose  essay,  "  De  Jure  Athe- 
niensium  Hereditario."  After  being  em- 
ployed some  time  as  a  classical  teacher, 
his  desire  to  perfect  himself  in  Oriental 
languages  induced  him  to  go  to  Paris, 
where  he  studied  under  the  noted  Orien- 
talist Sylvestre  de  Sacy.  He  had  it  next 
in  contemplation  to  go  to  India,  in  com- 
pany with  an  Englishman,  in  order  to  ac- 
quire a  further  knowledge  of  Sanscrit;  but 
having  in  the  mean  time  determined  to 
visit  Italy,  he  met  at  Rome  his  friend 
Brandis,  then  Secretary  to  the  Prussian 
embassy  at  Rome  under  Niebuhr.  Intro- 
duced  to    Niebuhr,   the  young    scholar 


Preface 


fbund  in  him  a  friend  capable  of  appreci- 
ating his  merits.  Abandoning  his  inten- 
tion of  going  to  the  East,  he  settled  in 
Rome  as  Niebuhr's  private  secretary  —  a 
situation  afterwards  exchanged  for  the 
higher  one  of  secretary  to  the  embassy. 
Enjoying  the  benefit  of  Niebuhr's  society 
and  advice,  he  resumed  his  classical  stu- 
dies with  enthusiasm,  turning  to  advantage 
the  facilities  afforded  him  by  his  residence 
in  Rome.  The  results  of  his  inquiries  into 
the  antiquities  and  topography  of  Rome 
appeared  in  his  "  Beschreibung  der  Stadt 
Rom,"  (Description  of  the  City  of  Rome.) 
He  also  interested  himself  much  at  this 
time  in  the  hieroglyphical  researches  of 
Champollion ;  and  he  was  instrumental  in 
inciting  the  savans  of  Berlin  to  betake 
themselves  to  this  branch  of  archaeology, 
and  more  particularly  in  determining  to- 
wards it  the  rising  talent  of  the  great  liv- 
ing ^Egyptologist,  Dr.  Lepsius.  At  Rome 
Bunsen  was  one  of  the  chief  supports  of 
the  Archaeological  Institute,  and  indeed 


n  Preface, 


acted  as  its  general  secretary.  The  visit 
of  the  King  of  Prussia  to  Rome  in  1822, 
made  that  sovereign  acquainted  with  the 
abilities  of  the  secretary  of  his  legation ; 
the  present  king  also — then  crown  prince 
—made  his  acquaintance  about  the  same 
time.  The  personal  esteem  which  both 
contracted  for  Bunsen  accounts  for  his 
rapid  advancement  in  the  Prussian  diplo- 
matic service.  On  Niebuhr's  retirement 
from  the  embassy  at  Rome,  Bunsen  suc- 
ceeded him,  first  as  Charge"  d'affaires  and 
afterwards  as  full  minister.  In  this  capa- 
city he  interested  himself  much  in  the 
Protestant  Church  and  Protestant  worship 
at  Rome,  as  well  as  in  his  classical  and 
historical  studies.  A  difference  between 
the  papal  court  and  that  of  Prussia  on  a 
question  of  ecclesiastical  right  in  the  Prus- 
fcian  States,  led  to  his  recall  in  March  1838. 
After  a  visit  to  Munich  and  to  England, 
he  was  again  in  November  1839,  in  diplo- 
matic service  as  ambassador  to  the  Swiss 
Confederacy;  and  in  1841  he  was  appoint 


Preface.  vh 


ed  Prussian  ambassador  to  England.  Re- 
taining this  post  till  1854,  when  his  pecu- 
liar opinions  on  the  proper  policy  of  Prus- 
sia in  the  approaching  European  crisis  led 
to  his  resignation  or  recall,  and  having 
during  these  thirteen  years  resided  chiefly 
in  London,  Chevalier  Bunsen  became  al- 
most a  naturalized  Englishman;  and  in- 
deed two  of  his  sons  have  settled  in  Eng- 
land, one  as  a  clergyman  in  the  English 
Church.  While  discharging  with  peculiar 
discretion  his  duties  as  Prussian  ambassa- 
dor, he  was  at  the  same  time  widely 
known  in  English  society  as  a  philologist 
and  a  man  of  letters — a  representative,  in 
intellectual  English  circles,  of  the  erudition 
and  scholarly  zeal  of  Germany.  The  fol- 
lowing list  of  his  works,  published  since 
1841,  will  indicate  the  grounds  of  his  well- 
earned  celebrity: — "The  Liturgy  of  the 
Passion-week,  with  a  Preface,"  &c,  pub- 
lished at  Hamburg  in  1841,  not  translated ; 
"  The  Basilicas  of  Christian  Rome  in  their 
Connection  with  the  Idea  and  History  o' 


viii  Preface. 


Church  Architecture,"  <fcc,  published  at 
Munich  in  1843,  and  not  translated;  "The 
Epistles  of  Ignatius  of  Antioch,  with  An- 
notations," and  "  Ignatius  of  Antioch  and 
his  Age,  Seven  Letters  to  Dr.  A.  Neander," 
both  published  by  the  Academy  of  Ham- 
burg in  1844,  and  the  last  we  believe 
translated ;  "  Die  Verfassung  der  Kirche 
der  Zukunft,"  published  at  Hamburg  in 
1845,  and  translated  into  English  in  1847, 
under  the  title  of  u  The  Constitution  of 
the  Church  of  the  Future;"  iEgyptens 
Stelle  in  der  Weltgeschichte,"  Hamburg, 
1 845,  and  the  English  translation  of  which, 
"  Egypt's  Place  in  Universal  History,"  is 
perhaps  the  best  known  of  the  author's 
works ;  "  Memoir  on  the  Constitutional 
Rights  of  the  Duchies  of  Schleswig  and 
flolstein,"  presented  to  Lord  Palmerston, 
April  1848,  and  published  that  year  (about 
which  time  other  papers  on  German  poli- 
tics were  published  by  the  author ;)  finally, 
fiince  1848,  contributions  to  "The  Life  and 
Letters  of  B.  G.  Nieuuhr,"  published  by  ai» 


P  r  efa  ce.  ix 


English  alitor  in  1852,  from  the  German 
materials ;  and  an  important  and  elaborate 
work  published  first  in  1851,  in  four  vol- 
umes, under  the  title  of  "  Hippolytus," 
and  again  in  a  revised  and  extended  form 
in  1854,  as  "Christianity  and  Mankind: 
their  Beginnings  and  Prospects,"  in  seven 
volumes — volumes  one  and  two  containing 
"  Hippolytus  and  his  Age,"  volumes  three 
and  fcur  "  Outlines  of  the  Philosophy  of 
Universal  History  applied  to  Language 
and  Religion,"  and  volumes  five,  six,  and 
seven,  "Analecta  Ante-Nicaena."  It  is 
as  an  Egyptologist  and  ecclesiastical  his- 
torian that  Chevalier  Bunsen  has  most 
widely  affected  his  time.  He  now  lives 
in  retirement  on  the  Rhine,  pursuing  his 
favorite  studies,  and  often  reading  or  writ- 
ing at  a  standing-desk  sixteen  hours  a  day. 
An  Appendix,  entitled  by  us  the  Re- 
verse-side of  the  Picture,  which  we  con- 
fess did  not  enter  into  our  original  plan, 
will  show,  in  the  emphatic  language  of  Sir 
Win.  Hamilton,  the  blemishes  of  Luther'i 


x  Preface, 

character.  Why  should  the  faults  of  a 
great  man  be  concealed  ?  To  err  is  hu- 
man, and  no  one  claims  for  Luther  exemp- 
tion from  the  common  lot  of  mankind. 
Sir  We  Hamilton  has  stated  the  faults 
of  Luther  with  such  vigor  of  style  and 
wealth  of  erudition,  as  really  to  exagger- 
ate their  importance.  Archdeacon  Hare 
undertook  a  defence,  but  found  himseli 
powerless  in  the  grip  of  Hercules,  and 
really  damaged  the  cause  of  which  he 
made  himself  the  champion.  We  have 
omitted  all  passages  in  Hamilton's  notes 
that  are  merely  personal,  retaining  such 
facts  as  demand  a  place  in  history.  We 
must  accept  Luther,  as  we  accept  ourselves, 
as  we  accept  many  things,  for  better  or  for 
worse,  and  be  devoutly  thankful  to  Heaven 
for  whatever  good  is  vouchsafed  us.  The 
sun  has  its  spots,  and  the  great  Reformer 
has  in  his  character  a  touch  of  earth  that 
Jinks  him  more  closely  with  our  poor  hu- 
manity. O.  W.  Wight. 

April,  1869 


MARTIN   LUTHER. 


MAKTIN  LUTHER 


Luther's  life  is  both  the  epos  and  the 
tragedy  of  his  age.  It  is  an  epos  be- 
cause its  first  part  presents  a  hero  and 
a  prophet,  who  conquers  apparently  in- 
superable difficulties,  and  opens  a  new 
world  to  the  human  mind,  without  any 
power  but  that  of  divine  truth  and  deep 
conviction,  or  any  authority  but  that 
inherent  in  sincerity  and  undaunted, 
unselfish  courage.  But  Luther's  life  is 
also  a  tragedy:  it  is  the  tragedy  of  Ger- 
many as  well  as  of  the  hero,  her  son, 
vrho  in  vain  tried  to  rescue  his  country 
from  unholy  oppression,  and  to  regen- 
erate her  from  within,  as  a  nation,  by 
means  of  the  Gospel ;  and  who  died  in 


14  Martin  Luther. 

unshaken  faith  in  Christ  and  in  hia 
kingdom,  although  he  lived  to  see  his 
beloved  fatherland  going  to  destruction, 
not  through,  but  in  spite  of,  the  Refor- 
mation. 

Both  parts  of  Luther's  life  are  of  the 
highest  interest.  In  the  epic  part  of  it 
we  see  the  most  arduous  work  of  the 
time, — the  work  for  two  hundred  years 
tried  in  vain  by  councils,  and  by  pro- 
phets and  martyrs,  with  and  without 
emperors,  kings,  and  princes, — under- 
taken by  a  poor  monk  alone,  who  car- 
ried it  out  under  the  ban  both  of  the 
pope  and  the  empire.  In  the  second, 
we  see  him  surrounded  by  friends  and 
disciples,  always  the  spiritual  head  of 
his  nation,  and  the  revered  adviser  of 
princes  and  preacher  of  the  people; 
living  in  the  same  poverty  as  before, 
wid  leaving  his  descendants  as  unpro- 
vided for  as  Aristides  left  his  daughter 
So  lived  and  died  the  greatest  hero  of 


Martin  Luther,  15 

Christendom  since  the  apostles ;  the  re- 
storer of  that  form  of  Christianity  which 
low  sustains  Europe,  and  (with  all  its 
defects)  regenerating  and  purifying  the 
whole  human  race ;  the  founder  of  the 
modern  German  language  and  litera- 
ture ;  the  first  speaker  and  debater  of 
his  country;  and,  at  the  same  time,  the 
first  writer  in  prose  and  verse  of  his 
age. 

And  in  what  state  had  he  found  hip 
native  country?  The  once  free  and 
powerful  aggregate  of  nations,  which 
had  overthrown  the  western  empire,  con- 
quered Gaul,  and  transfused  healthier 
blood  into  the  Romanized  Celtic  popu- 
lation of  Britain,  had  gradually  been 
broken  up  into  nearly  four  hundred 
(with  the  barons  of  the  empire  twelve 
hundred)  sovereignties,  under  a  power- 
less imperial  government  represented 
by  emperors  bent  upon  the  destruction 
of  nationality,  and  by  an  oligarchic 


16  Martin  Luther. 

diet  with  seven  electoral  princes  at  its 
head,  three  of  whom,  as  ecclesiastics, 
were  creatures  of  the  pope,  while  the 
remaining  four,  imitating  the  emperor, 
were  occupied  rather  with  the  selfish 
interests  of  their  princely  houses  than 
with  those  of  their  country.  When, 
in  I486,  Maximilian  was  to  be  elected 
king  of  the  Romans,  and  when  he  be- 
came emperor  (in  1493,)  Archbishop 
Berthold,  elector  of  Mayence,  a  great 
and  patriotic  man,  had  prepared,  with 
some  other  German  princes,  a  plan  for 
a  sort  of  national  executive,  the  mem- 
bers of  which  were  not  to  be  installed, 
as  heretofore,  by  the  emperor  alone,  but 
appointed  by  the  Diet  and  the  electors, 
in  order  to  form  a  federal  senate  to  co- 
operate with  the  emperor.  But  the 
Austrian  prince,  son-in-law  of  Charles 
of  Burgundy,  and  heir  to  his  kingly 
estates,  was  liberal  in  promises  unful- 
filled, having  lived  not  only  to  maintair 


Martin  Luther,  17 

but  to  strengthen  the  imperial  autoc- 
racy. His  great  comfort  on  his  death* 
bed  was  the  reflection  that  his  whole 
life  had  been  devoted  to  the  aggran 
dizement  of  his  own  House  of  Austria. 
The  smaller  German  lords  and  knight* 
of  the  empire  made  a  last  attempt  to 
maintain  their  independence,  and  to 
restore  the  ancient  liberties  of  the  Ger- 
man nation;  but  acting  in  a  lawless 
manner  and  without  any  political  wis- 
dom, they  were  crushed  by  the  united 
power  of  the  emperor  and  the  electors. 
The  more  eminent  and  powerful  portion 
of  the  mass  of  the  nation  was  repre- 
sented by  the  wealthy  towns,  which 
had  purchased  from  the  emperors  the 
privileges  of  free  imperial  cities ;  and 
which,  with  the  Hanseatic  towns,  would 
have  formed,  united  with  the  estate  of 
the  knights,  the  most  complete  constit- 
uent parts  of  a  House  of  Commons, 
by  the  side  of  the  princes,  dukes,  and 


18  Martin  Luther. 

counts  of  the  empire  as  House  of  Peers, 
The  formation  of  such  an  effective  fed- 
eral empire  must  have  been  in  the  mind 
of  those  enlightened  men,  who,  at  the 
election  of  Maximilian,  perceived  that 
a  constitution  was  necessary  to  prevent 
Germany  from  becoming  a  mere  domain 
of  the  emperors.  A  truly  representative 
government,  federal  and  unitary,  mo- 
narchical, and  aristocratical,  and  popu- 
lar, would  have  followed,  as  a  matter 
of  course,  from  such  a  beginning  as  that 
proposed.  But  since  the  failure  of  that 
plan  nothing  effectual  had  been  accom- 
plished ;  isolation  and  separation  became 
more  complete ;  the  peace  of  the  land 
was  enforced  at  last,  although  imper- 
fectly ;  and  the  imperial  tribunal  estab- 
lished by  Maximilian  acted  with  in- 
sufficient authority,  and,  as  was  be- 
lieved, not  with  equal  justice.  The 
greatest  iniquity  was  the  condition  of 
the  neasantry.      The  freeholders  haa 


Martin  Luther.  19 

hi  many  parts  of  Germany  been, 
if  not  absorbed,  at  least  considerably 
diminished  by  the  feudal  system ;  but 
the  great  grievances  were  the  illegal 
abuses  which  had  grown  out  of  that 
system  and  the  always  increasing  exac 
tions  of  the  lords  of  the  manor,  who, 
particularly  in  Southern  Germany,  had 
reduced  the  peasants  to  real  serfs, — men 
who  had  to  render  unlimited  services 
and  scarcely  could  support  life.  There 
had  been  insurrections  of  peasants,  par- 
ticularly along  the  Upper  Rhine,  in 
1491  and  again  in  1503;  but  being 
without  leaders,  they  were  each  time 
crushed  after  a  bloody  struggle,  and 
the  ultimate  result  was  a  still  greatei 
amount  of  hardship.  The  chains  of  the 
iufferers  were  riveted.  In  short,  Ger- 
many was  suffering  from  all  the  same 
evils  as  France  and  England  without 
having  gained  that  unity  and  strength 
of  government  which  in  those  countries 


20  Martin  Luther. 

had  resulted  from  similar  struggles. 
On  the  other  hand,  however,  the  age 
was  one  of  general  progress.  The  in- 
vention of  printing  had  given  wings  to 
the  human  mind ;  philology  had  opened 
the  sources  of  historical  knowledge  as 
well  as  of  philosophy  and  poetry ;  astrol- 
ogy began  to  give  way  to  astronomy, 
and  the  idea  of  the  universe  emerged 
r>ut  of  Jewish  and  other  fables.  As  to 
Germany  in  particular,  the  cradle  of  the 
*rt  of  printing,  Augsburg  and  other 
great  cities  were,  with  the  Hanseatic 
towns,  centres  of  European  commerce, 
and  partook  of  the  resources  opened  by 
the  discovery  of  America.  The  religious 
mind,  too,  had  been  awakened  since  the 
days  of  Wycliffe  and  of  Huss.  Believ- 
ing Christendom,  and,  above  all,  believ- 
ing Germany,  had  hoped  for  a  real  re- 
form of  the  Church,  the  abuses  of  which 
were  doubly  felt  in  consequence  of  the 
lhameful  immorality  of  the  popes,  and 


Martin  Luther.  21 

the  ever-increasing  exactions  of  the 
court  of  Koine.  The  issue  of  immense 
efforts  on  the  part  of  emperors,  princes, 
and  people,  was,  that  the  Council  of 
Constance  delivered  Huss  to  the  flames, 
and  both  the  councils  of  Constance  and 
Basle  ended  in  a  more  decided  suprem- 
acy of  the  Roman  pontiffs.  Certainly 
the  religious  mind  of  Germany  was  not 
a  little  damped  by  these  disappoint- 
ments ;  but  the  thirst  after  a  reform  was 
not  quenched  by  the  evident  unwilling- 
ness of  Rome  to  reform  itself.  The  wise 
and  good  men  of  the  time,  however, 
could  not  discover  any  means  to  achieve 
what  was  generally  desired  and  demand- 
ed, The  faith  in  human,  and  gradually 
also  in  divine  justice  upon  earth,  had 
long  disappeared  in  unfortunate  Italy, 
as  the  writings  of  the  age  prove ;  but 
now  it  threatened  to  vanish  even  in  the 
minds  of  the  Germans,  in  whom  that 
taith  may  be  called  eminently  their  in- 


22  Martin  Luther, 

nate  individual  and  national  religion, 
rhe  Bible  had  been  repeatedly  printed 
in  the  vernacular  tongue,  but  it  was, 
and  continued  to  be,  a  book  closed  with 
seven  seals.    There  was  a  general  feel- 
ing that  the  gospel  ought  to  be  made 
the  foundation  of  purified  religion  and 
doctrine ;  but  where  was  the  man  to  re- 
suscitate its  letter  and  spirit,  and  to  find 
the  way  from  Christ  to  the  soul  through 
the  darkness  and  the  fictions,  the  usages 
and  the  abuses,  of  the  intervening  cen- 
turies?    The  voice  of  the  Friends  of 
God  with  Tauler  at  their  head  had  been 
choked  in  blood,  like  that  of  the  Wal- 
denses;  and  then,  supposing  such  an 
evangelical  basis  to  have  been  found, 
was  the  existing  state  of  injustice  and 
wrong  to  continue?    Were  the  emper 
ors  to  continue  to  sacrifice  the  empire 
to  their  dynastic  interests — the  princes 
and  the  nobles  to  their  covetousness 
and  licentiousness?     Yes;  would  not 


Martin  Luther.  23 

the  overthrow  of  the  ecclesiastical  power 
.ead  to  universal  conflagration,  and  re- 
bellion, and  destruction,  and  thus  Chris- 
tendom be  thrown  back  into  a  worse 
barbarism  than  that  out  of  which  they 
were  anxious  to  emerge  ?  In  short,  the 
work  (so  it  seemed)  could  not  be  under- 
taken but  in  despair  or  in  enthusiastic 
faith.  In  the  former  case  it  must  suc- 
cumb necessarily;  but  even  if  begun 
with  the  faith  of  Wycliffe  and  of  Huss, 
would  not  the  attempt  in  any  case  lead 
to  a  long-continued  struggle,  the  end 
of  which  none  of  those  who  began  it 
could  live  to  witness?  Who  should 
enter  on  so  tremendous  a  course  ? 

Such  was  the  work  to  be  done,  and 
such  were  the  general  and  peculiar  diffi- 
culties and  the  state  of  things  in  Ger- 
many, when  Luther  undertook  it.  Lu- 
ther devoted  a  life  of  almost  supernatu- 
ral energy  and  suffering  to  secure  its 
Basis ;  and  although  at  his  death  he  left 


24  Martin  Luther. 

it  surrounded  by  the  greatest  dangers, 
and  one  hundred  years  of  bloody  strug- 
gle were  succeeded  by  another  hundred 
years  of  agony  and  of  exhaustion,  still 
the  Reformation  survived,  and  proved 
essentially  the  renovating  element  of 
mankind  instead  of  being  (as  its  enemies 
prophesied)  the  promoter  of  revolution. 
It  subsists  to  this  hour  as  the  only  dur- 
able preserver  of  all  liberties,  religious 
or  political ;  and  the  nations  and  states 
which  have  embraced  the  Reformation 
are  those  only  which  have  escaped  the 
revolutions  which  for  seventy  years 
have  agitated  those  of  the  Roman  faith. 
The  life  of  him  who  was  the  beginner 
of  this  great  and  holy  work,  and  who 
broke  down  the  double  tyranny  of  pope 
and  emperor  arrayed  against  him,  must 
therefore  be  considered  from  a  highei 
point  of  view  than  that  of  individual 
biography,  or  sectarian  panegyric,  o* 
national  vanity  and  prejudices.     The 


Martin  Luther.  25 

article  upon  Luther  will  have  to  be 
treated  from  the  central  point  of  the 
oniversal  history  of  mankind.  This  must 
be  also  the  rule  for  fixing  the  epochs  of 
Luther's  life.  One  of  the  reasons  why 
this  life  is  not  yet  fully  appreciated  is, 
that  it  is  not  sufficiently  understood; 
and  this  again  arises  in  great  measure 
from  the  want  of  due  observation  of  the 
critical  points  in  the  development  of  the 
Reformation  and  of  the  history  of  Eu- 
rope, and  of  Germany  in  particular. 

We  shall  divide  the  following  con- 
densed but  complete  survey  into  three 
periods.  The  first  will  be  the  period 
of  preparation,  extending  to  Luther's 
first  publication  of  theses  against  the 
kidulgences,  31st  October,  1517;  the 
second  will  comprise  the  next  eight 
years  of  preaching  the  gospel  and  gospel- 
uoctrine  in  its  three  fundamental  parts ; 
the  third  is  that  of  political  and  theo- 
wogical  struggles,  from  1525  to  his  death 


26  Martin  Luther . 

m  1546; — preparation,  progressive  ao 
tion,  and  then  struggle  within  and  with' 
out.  Luther's  grand  character  and 
true  piety  shine  in  both  periods  of  his 
public  career;  but  the  culminating 
point  of  his  active  and  creative  agency 
is  in  the  first.  It  is,  according  to  our 
view  the  year  1523  which  forms  the 
critical  epoch.  In  1524  the  foundation 
of  the  practical  realization  of  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  Keformation  was  laid  with 
triumphant  success.  The  year  1525 
began  hopefully,  but  ended  with  the 
preparation  for  a  struggle,  of  which 
Luther  felt  at  once  that  he  never  should 
see  the  end.  Before  the  close  of  1525, 
he  gave  up  the  cause  of  Germany,  not 
in  consequence  of  any  fault  committed 
by  himself,  but  because  he  saw  that  hii 
party  was  not  prepared  for  the  struggle 
with  the  empire,  and  was  still  less  re- 
ligned  to  leave  the  matter  to  God,  who 
as  Luther  firmly  believed  to  his  death. 


Martin  Luther .  27 

would  never  allow  his  work  to  perish 
till  the  end  of  the  world.  But  was  not 
the  end  of  the  world  coming  now? 

First  Period: — The  Years  of  Prepa- 
ration ;  or,  the  first  Thirty  foivr  Tears 
of  Luther's  Life— (1483— 1517.) 

Martin  Luther  was  born  at  Eisleben, 
in  the  county  of  Mansfeid,  in  Thuringia, 
on  the  10th  November,  1483,  on  the 
eve  of  St.  Martin's  day,  in  the  same 
year  as  Raphael,  nine  years  after  Mi- 
chael Angelo,  and  ten  after  Copernicus. 
His  father  was  a  miner,  descended  from 
a  family  of  poor  but  free  peasants,  and 
possessed  forges  in  Mansfeid,  the  small 
profits  of  which  enabled  him  to  send 
his  son  to  the  Latin  school  of  the  place. 
There  Martin  distinguished  himself  so 
much,  that  his  father  (by  that  time  be- 
come a  member  of  the  municipal  coun« 
cil)  intended  him  for  the  study  of  the 
raw.    In  the  mean  time,  Martin  had 


28  Martin  Luther. 

often  to  go  about  as  one  of  the  poor 
choristers,  singing  and  begging  at  the 
doors  of  charitable  people  at  Magde- 
burg and  a,t  Eisenach,  to  the  colleges 
of  which  towns  he  was  successively 
sent.  His  remarkable  appearance  and 
serious  demeanor,  his  fine  tenor  voice 
and  musical  talent,  procured  him  the 
attention  and  afterwards  the  support 
and  maternal  care  of  a  pious  matron, 
wife  of  Cotta,  burgomaster  of  Eisenach^ 
into  whose  house  he  was  taken.  Alrea- 
dy, in  his  eighteenth  year,  he  surpassed 
all  his  fellow-students  in  knowledge  of 
of  the  Latin  Classics,  and  in  power  of 
composition  and  of  eloquence.  His 
mind  took  more  and  more  a  deeply  re- 
ligious turn ;  but  it  was  not  till  he  had 
been  for  two  years  studying  at  Eisen- 
ach that  he  discovered  an  entire  Bible, 
having  until  then  only  known  the  ec- 
clesiastical extracts  from  the  sacred 
rolume,  and  the  history  of  Hannah  ana 


Martin  Luther,  29 

Samuel.  He  now  determined  to  study 
Greek  and  Hebrew,  the  two  original 
languages  of  the  Bible.  A  dangerous 
illness  brought  him  within  the  near 
prospect  of  death;  but  he  recovered, 
and  prosecuted  his  study  of  philosophy 
and  Taw,  and  tried  hard  to  gain  inward 
peace  by  a  pious  life  and  the  greatest 
strictness  in  all  external  observances. 
His  natural  cheerfulness  disappeared; 
and  after  experiencing  the  shock  of  the 
death  of  one  of  his  friends  by  assassi- 
nation in  the  summer  of  1505,  and  soon 
after  that,  being  startled  by  a  thunder- 
bolt striking  the  earth  by  his  side,  he 
determined  to  give  up  the  world  and 
retire  into  the  convent  of  the  Augus- 
tinians  at  Erfurt  —  much  against  the 
wishes  and  advice  of  his  father,  who, 
indeed,  most  strongly  remonstrated. 
Luther  soon  experienced  the  uselessnesa 
%f  monastic  life  and  discipline,  and  suf- 
fered from  the  coarseness  of  his  brethren, 


80  Martin  Luther , 

who  felt  his  exercises  of  study  and  me- 
ditation to  be  a  reproach  upon  their 
own  habits  of  gossiping  and  mendicancy. 
It  was  at  this  period  that  he  began  to 
study  the  Old  Testament  in  Hebrew, 
yet  continuing  to  fulfill  scrupulously  the 
rules  of  his  order.  "  I  tormented  my- 
self to  death,"  he  said  at  a  later  period, 
"  to  make  my  peace  with  God,  but  I 
was  in  darkness  and  found  it  not."  The 
vicar-general  of  the  order,  Johann  Von 
Staupitz,  who  had  passed  through  the 
same  discipline  with  the  same  result, 
comforted  him  by  those  remarkable 
words,  which  remained  forever  engraven 
in  Luther's  heart : — "  There  is  no  true 
repentance  but  that  which  begins  with 
the  love  of  righteousness  and  of  God. 
Love  him  then  who  has  loved  thee 
first ! "  In  the  struggles  which  followed 
Luther's  real  beginning  of  a  new  life, 
and  in  the  perplexities  into  which  Au- 
gustine's doctrine  of  election  threw  him 


Martin  Luther.  31 

the  book  which,  after  the  Bible,  exer- 
cised the  greatest  and  most  beneficial 
influence  upon  his  mind,  was  that  prac- 
tical concentration  of  the  sermons  and 
other  works  of  Tauler — the  enlightened 
Dominican  preacher  and  Christian  phi 
losopher  of  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth 
century  —  the  Theologia  Germanica, 
written  by  an  anonymous  author  to- 
wards the  latter  part  of  that  century,  of 
which  we  shall  have  to  speak  hereafter. 
When  Luther  regained  his  mental 
health,  he  took  courage  to  be  ordained 
priest  in  May  1507.  Next  year  the 
Elector  of  Saxony  nominated  him  pro- 
fessor of  philosophy  at  the  university 
of  Wittemberg ;  and  in  1509  he  began 
to  give,  as  bachelor  in  divinity,  biblical 
lectures.  These  lectures  were  the  awa- 
kening cause  of  new  life  in  the  univer- 
sity, and  soon  a  great  number  of  stu- 
dents, from  all  parts  of  Germany,  gath- 
ered round  Luther.     Even  professori 


82  Martin  Luther. 

came  to  attend  .his  lectures  and  hear 
his  preaching.  The  year  1511  brought 
an  apparent  interruption,  but  in  fact 
only  a  new  development  of  Luther'i 
character  and  knowledge  of  the  world. 
He  was  sent  by  his  order  to  Rome  on 
account  of  some  discrepancies  of  opinion 
as  to  its  government.  His  first  impres- 
sion of  the  city  was  that  of  profound 
admiration,  soon  mixed  with  a  melan- 
choly recollection  of  Scipio's  Homeric 
exclamation  on  the  ruins  of  Carthage. 
The  tone  of  flippant  impiety  at  the  court 
and  among  the  higher  clergy  of  Eome, 
under  Julius  XI.,  shocked  the  devout 
German  monk.  He  then  discovered 
the  real  state  of  the  world  in  the  centre 
of  the  Western  Church ;  and  often  in 
after  life  he  used  to  say — "  I  would  not 
take  100,000  florins  not  to  have  seen 
Home."  Always  anxious  to  leam,  he 
took  during  his  stay  Hebrew  lessona 
from  a  celebrated  rabbi,  Elias  Levita 


Martin  Luther.  33 

but  the  grand  effect  upon  him  was,  that 
now  for  the  first  time  he  understood 
Christ  and  St.  Paul—"  The  just  shall 
live  by  faith"  —  that  mighty  saying 
with  which  he  had  begun  at  Wittem- 
berg  his  interpretation  of  the  Bible, 
now  sounded  on  his  ears  in  the  midst 
of  Rome.  He  saw  that  external  works 
are  nothing;  that  the  pious  spirit  in 
which  any  work  is  done  or  any  duty 
fulfilled — an  humble  handicraft  or  the 
preaching  of  sermons — is  the  only  thing 
of  value  in  the  eye  of  God.  On  his  re- 
turn to  the  university,  the  favor  of 
Staupitz  and  the  generosity  of  the  elec- 
tor procured  him  a  present  of  fifty  flor- 
ins (ducats)  to  defray  the  expenses  of 
his  promotion  to  the  degree  of  Doctor 
of  Divinity  at  the  end  of  1512.  The 
solemn  oath  he  had  to  pronounce  on 
that  occasion  (to  most  only  a  formulary 
without  deep  meaning)  "  to  devote  his 
whole  life  to  study,  and  faithfully  to 


34  Martin  Luther. 

expound  and  defend  the  Holy  Scrij 
ture,"  was  to  him  the  seal  of  his  mission 
He  began  his  biblical  teaching  by  at 
tacking  scholasticism,  which  at  that 
time  was  called  Aristotelianism.  He 
showed  that  the  Bible  was  a  deeper 
philosophy:  that,  teaching  the  nothing- 
ness and  wickedness  of  man  as  long  as 
he  is  a  selfish  creature,  it  refutes  and 
condemns  all  philosophical  tenets  which 
consider  man  separately  from  his  rela- 
tion to  Deity.  All  his  contemporaries 
praised  as  unparalleled  the  clearness  of 
his  Christian  doctrine,  the  impressive 
eloquence  of  his  preaching,  and  the 
mildness  and  sanctity  of  his  character. 
Erasmus  himself  exclaimed — "  There  ia 
not  an  honest  divine  who  does  not  side 
with  Luther."  Christ's  self-devoted 
life  and  death  —  Christ  crucified,  was 
the  centre  of  his  doctrine ;  God's  eternal 
love  to  mankind,  and  the  sure  triumph 
of  Faith,  were  his  texts.     Already,  in 


Martin  Luther .  3ft 

1516,  philosophical  tenets  deduced  from 
these  spiritual  principles  were  publiclj 
defended  at  academical  disputations 
over  which  he  presided.  Luther  him- 
self preached  at  Dresden  and  othei 
places  the  doctrine  of  justifying  and 
vivifying  faith ;  and  then  accepted,  for 
a  short  time,  the  place  of  vicar-general 
of  his  order  in  that  year.  Even  in  the 
convents,  spiritual,  moral  Christianity 
made  its  way  in  spite  of  forms  and  ob 
servances.  When  the  plague  came  to 
Wittemberg,  he  remained  when  all 
others  fled, — "  It  is  my  post,  and  I  have 
to  finish  my  commentary  upon  the 
Epistle  to  the  Galatians.  Should  bro- 
ther Martin  fail,  yet  the  world  will  not 
fail." 

Thus  came  the  year  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, 1517.  With  more  boldness  than 
ever,  the  new  pope  Leo  had  sent,  in 
1516,  agents  through  the  world  to  sell 
Indulgences,  and  the  man  chosen  fo» 


36  Martin  Luther. 

Saxony,  Tetzel  the  Dominican,  and  his 
band,  were  among  the  most  zealous 
preachers  of  this  iniquity.  "  I  would 
not  exchange,"  said  he  in  one  of  his 
harangues,  "  my  privilege  (as  vender  of 
the  papal  letters  of  absolution)  against 
those  which  St.  Peter  has  in  heaven ; 
for  I  have  saved  more  souls  by  my  in- 
dulgences than  the  apostle  by  his  ser- 
mons. Whatever  crime  one  may  have 
committed  " — naming  an  outrage  upon 
the  person  of  the  Yirgin  Mary  —  "  let 
him  pay  well  and  he  will  receive  par- 
don. Likewise  the  sins  which  you  may 
be  disposed  to  commit  in  future,  may 
be  atoned  for  beforehand."  But  he 
soon  found  that  a  spirit  had  been  awa- 
kened among  the  serious  minds  of  Ger- 
many to  which  such  blasphemies  were 
revolting.  Luther  preached  and  spoke 
out  against  this  horrible  abuse,  which 
he  said  he  could  not  believe  to  be  sanc- 
tioned by  the  pope.     As  a  great  exhi 


Martin  Luther.  37 

■  — — —  . 

bition  of  relics,  together  with  indulg- 
ences, was  to  take  place  on  the  day  ol 
All  Saints  in  the  church  of  Wittemberg, 
Luther  appeared  on  the  eve,  31st  Octo- 
ber, in  the  midst  of  the  pilgrims  who 
had  nocked  to  the  festival,  and  pasted 
up  at  the  church  door  the  ninety-five 
theses  against  indulgences  and  the  super- 
stitions connected  with  them,  in  firm 
although  guarded  language.  The  Re- 
formation began,  like  that  of  St.  John 
the  Baptist,  by  the  preaching  of  inward 
penitence,  in  opposition  to  penance  and 
to  absolution  purchasable  by  gold ;  but 
Luther's  preaching  had  the  advan- 
tage that  it  was  based  upon  man's  re- 
demption by  Christ.  Penitence  was 
preached,  as  originating  in  the  consci- 
ousness of  man's  unworthiness,  God 'a 
mercy,  and  the  redemption  through 
Christ  as  placed  before  us  in  the  gospel. 
The  entire  doctrine  of  these  immortal 
Theses  is  summed  up  in  the  two  last 


38  Martin  Luther . 

(94,  95,)  which  run  thus :— "  The  Chris, 
tians  are  to  be  exhorted  to  make  every 
effort  to  follow  Christ  their  head  through 
the  cross,  through  death  and  hell ;  for 
it  it  much  better  they  should  through 
mneh  tribulation  enter  into  the  kingdom 
of  heaven,  than  acquire  a  carnal  security 
by  the  consolations  of  a  false  peace." 
A  great  deed  had  been  done  that  even- 
ing ;  a  door  had  been  opened  for  man- 
kind into  a  course  whose  end  is  even 
now  far  from  being  reached.  Those 
words  —  not  the  result  of  design  and 
premeditation,  but  of  the  irresistible 
impulse  of  an  honest  mind  brought  face 
to  face  with  the  horrible  reality  of  blas- 
phemy— soon  echoed  through  the  whole 
world.  Luther's  public  life  had  opened ; 
the  Reformation  had  begun. 

Second  Period  : — The  First  Part  of 
the  Public  Life  of  Lutfter;  or%  tht 
Time  of  Progressive  Action. 


Martin  Luther,  39 

The  pilgrims  had  come  to  Wittem- 
berg  to  buy  indulgences,  and  returned 
with  the  theses  of  Luther  in  their  hands,, 
and  the  impression  of  his  powerful 
evangelical  teaching  in  their  hearts. 
Luther  was  urged  on  in  his  great  work 
not  by  his  friends,  who  were  timid  and 
terrified,  but  by  the  violence  and  frenzy 
of  Tetzel  and  his  adherents,  and  soon 
afterwards  by  the  despotic  acts  of  the 
Pope  Leo  X.,  who  having  at  first  de- 
spised the  affair  as  a  monk's  quarrel, 
thought  he  could  crush  it  by  arbitrary 
acts.  The  national  mind  in  Germany 
had  taken  up  the  matter  with  a  moral 
earnestness  which  made  an  impression 
not  only  upon  the  princes,  but  even 
upon  bishops  and  monks.  Compelled 
to  examine  the  ancient  history  of  the 
church,  Luther  soon  discovered  the 
whole  tissue  of  fraud  and  imposture  by 
which  the  cancn  law  of  the  popes — fhe 
ttecretals — had  been,fr'>m  the  ninth  cen- 


40  Martin  Luther. 

tury  downwards;  foisted  advisedly  and 
purposely,  upon  the  Christian  world. 
There  is  not  one  essential  point  in  the 
ancient  ecclesiastical  history  bearing 
upon  the  question  of  the  invocation  of 
saints,  of  clerical  priesthood,  and  ot 
episcopal  and  metropolitan  pretensions, 
which  his  genius  did  not  discern  in  its 
proper  light.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact, 
and  must  needs  be  considered  by  the 
philosopher  of  history  as  a  proof  of  the 
Spirit  of  God  having  guided  Luther, 
that  what  he  saw  and  said,  at  the  ear- 
liest stage  of  historical  criticism,  re- 
specting ecclesiastical  forgeries  and  im- 
postures, has  all  proved  true.  Soon 
after  Luther,  the  Centuriatores  Magde- 
burgici,  the  fathers  of  criticism  as  tc 
ecclesiastical  history,  took  the  matter 
up.  Of  course,  the  Romanists  denied 
their  assertions  for  two  hundred  years 
and  wherever  they  dare,  they  still  come 
back  to  the  old  fables  and  falsehoods 


Martin  Luther.  4i 

But  the  learned  discussion  has  been 
given  up,  step  by  step,  reluctantly, 
and  with  a  very  bad  grace.  Whatever 
Luther  denounced  as  fraud  or  abuse 
from  its  contradiction  to  the  canonical 
worship,  may  be  said  to  have  been 
since  openly  or  tacitly  admitted  to  be 
such.  But  what  produced  the  greatest 
effect  at  the  time  were  his  short  popu- 
lar treatises,  exegetical  and  practical. 
Among  these  are  particularly  remark- 
able his  Interpretation  of  the  Magnifi- 
cat, or  the  Canticle  of  the  Virgin  Mary, 
his  deep  and  earnest  Exposition  of  the 
Ten  Commandments,  and  his  Exposition 
of  the  LoroVs  Prayer,  which  latter  soon 
found  its  way  into  Italy,  although  with- 
out Luther's  name,  and  which  has  never 
yet  been  surpassed,  either  in  genuine 
Christian  thought  or  in  style.  Having 
resolved  to  preach  in  person  throughout 
Germany,  Luther  appeared  in  the  spring 
*f  1518  in  Heidelberg,  where  a  general 


42  Martin  Luther. 

meeting  of  his  Order  was  held.  The 
count  palatine,  to  whom  Luther  had 
been  introduced  by  the  elector  of  Sax- 
ony, received  him  very  courteously.  In 
order  to  rouse  the  spirit  of  the  professors, 
he  held  a  public  disputation  on  certain 
theses,  called  by  him  paradoxes,  by 
which  he  intended  to  make  apparent 
the  contrast  of  the  external  view  of  reli- 
gion taught  by  the  schoolmen,  and  the 
spiritual  and  energetic  view  of  gospel 
truth  based  upon  justifying  faith.  It 
was  here  that  Bucer,  then  a  Dominican 
monk,  but  soon  a  zealous  Reformer  and 
controversialist,  and  the  man  who,  after 
Calvin,  had  among  foreigners  the  great- 
est influence  upon  the  English  Refor- 
mation, heard  the  voice  of  the  gospel  in 
his  own  heart,  and  resolved  to  confess 
aud  preach  it  at  the  university. 

"  It  is  not  the  pope  (said  Luther  in 
one  of  his  disputations)  who  governs 
Jie  church  militant  of  Christ,  but  Christ 


Martin  Luther .  4:3 

himself ;  for  it  is  written  that  i  Christ 
must  reign  till  he  has  put  all  his  ene- 
mies under  his  feet/  He  evidently  has 
not  done  so  yet.  Christ's  reign,  in  this 
our  world,  is  the  reign  of  faith ;  we  do 
not  see  our  Head,  but  we  have  Him." 

On  his  return  to  Wittemberg  in  May 
1518,  Luther  wrote  and  published  an 
able  and  moderate  exposition  of  the 
theses,  and  sent  it  to  some  German 
bishops.  He  then  proclaimed  the  ab- 
solute necessity  of  a  thorough  reforma- 
tion of  the  Church,  which  could  only  be 
effected,  with  the  aid  of  God,  by  an 
earnest  co-operation  of  the  whole  of 
Christendom.  But  already  Rome  med- 
itated his  excommunication,  uttering 
threats  which  he  discussed  with  great 
courage  and  equanimity,  saying,  "  God 
alone  can  reconcile  with  himself  the 
fallen  soul :  He  alone  can  dissolve  the 
'anion  of  the  soul  with  himself:  blessed 
die  man  who  dies  under  an  unjust  ex 


Martin  Luther . 


In    requesting    hia 
superior  to  send  his  very  humble  letter 
to  Pope  Leo,  in  which  he  declared  hit 
readiness  to  defend  his  cause,  Luthei 
added,  "  Mark,  I  do  not  wish  to  entan- 
gle you  in  my  own  perilous  affair,  the 
consequences  of  which  I  am  ready  to 
bear  alone.     My  cause  is  Christ's  and 
God's."    In  the  mean  time,  Luther  was 
cited  repeatedly  to  appear  before  the 
pope's  tribunal  at  Rome.     Leo,  indeed, 
graciously  promised  to  pay  the  expenses 
of  his  journey,  which  certainly  would 
have  been  no  large  outlay,  as  none 
would  have  been  required  for  his  re- 
turn.    But  Luther  constantly  declined 
summonses  and   invitations,  and  pro- 
posed instead  one  or  other  of  the  Ger- 
man universities  as  judge.     This  pro- 
posal was,  of  course,  not  acceptable  to 
Rome,  and  therefore  he  was  summoned 
oefore  the  pope's  legate  in  Germany. 
The  pope's  legate  was  Cardinal  Caje 


Martin  Luther.  45 

ranus.  Luther  was  summoned  to  ap- 
pear before  him  at  Augsburg,  and  all 
princes  and  cities  were  threatened  witb 
the  interdict,  if  they  did  not  delivet 
Luther  into  the  hands  of  the  pope's 
tribunal.  It  was  in  these  critical  cir- 
cumstances that  Luther  formed  his  ac- 
quaintance with  Melancthon,  who  soon 
became  his  most  faithful  friend,  and 
remained  his  zealous  adherent  for  life. 
When  Melancthon  and  all  his  other 
friends  advised  Luther  not  to  go  to 
Augsburg  to  be  given  up  to  the  machi- 
nations of  the  legate,  he  replied, — "  They 
have  already  torn  my  honor  and  my 
reputation,  let  them  have  my  body,  if 
it  is  the  will  of  God ;  but  my  soul  they 
shall  not  take."  He  undertook  the 
journey,  as  a  good  monk,  on  foot ;  only 
provided  with  letters  of  recommenda- 
tion from  the  elector,  and  accompanied 
fcy  two  friends,  but  without  a  safe  con- 
iuct.    He  arrived  at  Augsburg  on  the 


46  Martin  Luther. 

■» 

evening  of  the  7th  October,  1518,  almof 
exhausted  by  the  hardships  of  the  join 
ney.  The  cardinal  and  his  assistant! 
employed  in  vain  alternately  threat* 
and  blandishments;  scholastic  argu- 
ments fell  powerless,  as  he  answered 
them  by  the  Bible,  and  demanded  tc 
be  refuted  by  the  word  of  God,  to 
which  he  showed  the  decretals  to  be 
opposed,  and  therefore,  according  even 
to  the  declaration  of  the  canonists,  of  no 
value.  For  these  reasons  he  constantly 
refused  to  retract,  as  he  was  required 
to  do,  his  two  propositions,  —  the  one 
that  the  treasure  of  indulgences  is  not 
composed  of  the  merits  of  Christ ;  the 
other,  that  he  who  receives  the  sacra- 
ment must  have  faith  in  the  grace  offer- 
ed to  him.  Luther  left  Augsburg  after 
having  addressed  a  firm  but  respectful 
letter  to  the  legate;  and  his  friends, 
who  were  sure  that  his  life  was  not  safe 
%  moment  longer,  escorted  him  before 


Martin  Luther .  47 

daybreak  out  of  the  town  on  horseback. 
On  his  return  to  Wittemberg,  he  found 
the  elector  in  great  anxiety  of  mind,  in 
consequence  of  an  imperious  missive  of 
the  cardinal  legate.  Luther  wrote  to 
the  prince  a  dignified  xetter,  saying, — 
"  I  would,  in  your  place,  answer  the 
cardinal  as  he  deserves  for  insulting  an 
honest  man  without  proving  him  to  be 
wrong ;  but  I  do  not  wish  to  be  an  in- 
cumbrance to  your  Highness;  I  am 
ready  to  leave  your  states,  but  I  will 
not  go  to  Kome."  The  elector  refused 
to  deliver  him  up  to  the  legate,  or  to 
send  him  out  of  the  states.  Luther 
would  have  gone  to  France  if  deprived 
of  his  asylum  in  Saxony.  The  elector, 
however,  having  desired  him  to  leave 
Wittemberg,  and  Luther  being  on  the 
point  of  obeying  his  orders,  the  prince, 
couched  by  his  humility  and  firmness, 
allowed  him  to  remain  and  to  prepare 
\iimself  for  a  new  conference.     At  the 


f8  Martin  Luther . 

end  of  1518,  the  papal  bull  concerning 
indulgences  appeared,  confirming  tha 
old  doctrine,  without  any  reference  to 
the  late  dispute.  Luther  had  already 
appealed  from  the  pope  to  a  general 
council. 

The  years  1519,  1520,  1521,  were 
the  time  of  a  fierce  but  triumphant 
struggle  with  the  hitherto  irresistible 
power  of  Rome,  soon  openly  supported 
by  the  empire.  The  two  first  of  these 
years  passed  in  public  conferences  and 
disputations  at  Leipzig  and  elsewhere, 
with  Eck  and  other  Romanist  doctors, 
in  which  Luther  was  seconded  by  the 
eloquence  of  the  ardent  and  acute  Carl- 
stadt,  as  well  as  by  the  learning  and 
argumentative  powers  of  Melancthon. 
People  and  princes  took  more  and  more 
part  in  the  dispute,  and  the  controversy 
widened  from  day  to  day.  Luther 
openly  declared  that  Huss  was  right  on 
ft  great  many  points,  and  had  been  un 


Martin  Luther.  49 

justly  condemned.  Wittemberg  be- 
came crowded  with  students  and  in 
quirers,  who  nocked  there  from  all  sides. 
Luther  not  only  continued  his  lectures, 
but  wrote  during  this  period  his  most 
important  expositions  and  commenta- 
ries on  the  New  Testament, — beginning 
with  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians  (Sept. 
1519,)  which  he  used  to  call  his  own 
epistle.  During  the  second  year  (1520) 
the  first  great  political  crisis  occurred, 
on  occasion  of  the  death  of  Maximilian, 
and  ended  fatally,  in  consequence  of 
the  total  want  of  patriotic  and  political 
wisdom  among  the  German  princes. 
The  elector  of  Saxony  was  offered  by 
one  of  the  most  eminent  and  influential 
of  his  colleagues,  the  archbishop  of 
Treves,  to  be  chosen  emperor ;  but  had 
not  the  courage  to  accept  a  dignity 
which  he  supposed  to  require  for  its 
support  a  more  powerful  house  than  his 
own.     Of  all  the  political  acts  which 


5C  Martin  Luther. 

may  be  designated,  with  Dante,  ugran 
vil  rifiato,  this  was  the  greatest  and 
most  to  be  regretted,  supposing  the 
elector  to  have  been  wise  and  courage- 
ous enough  to  give  the  knights  and 
cities  their  proper  share  in  the  govern- 
ment, and  patriotic  enough  to  make  the 
common  good  his  own. 

The  German  writers  have  called  the 
Elector  Frederic  "  the  Wise,"  particu- 
larly also  with  regard  to  this  question. 
But  long  before  Ranke  pointed  out  the 
political  elements  then  existing  for  an 
effective  improvement  of  the  miserable 
German  constitution,  Justus  Moser  of 
Osnabruck  had  prophetically  uttered 
the  real  truth, — "  if  the  emperor  at  that 
time  had  destroyed  the  feudal  system, 
this  deed  would  have  been,  according 
to  the  spirit  in  which  it  was  done,  the 
grandest  or  the  blackest  in  the  history 
of  the  world."  Mtfser  means  that  if  the 
emperor  had  embraced  the  Reformed 


Martin  Luther,  51 

faith,  and  placed  himself  at  the  head 
of  the  lower  nobility  and  the  cities, 
united  in  one  body  as  the  lower  house 
of  a  German  parliament,  this  act  would 
have  saved  Germany.  But  we  ought 
to  go  further,  and  say,  to  expect  such  a 
revolution  from  a  Spanish  king  was 
simply  absurd.  Frederic  alone  could, 
and  probably  would,  have  been  led 
into  that  course,  just  because  he  had 
nothing  to  rely  upon  except  the  German 
nation,  then  more  numerous  and  pow- 
erful than  it  ever  has  been  since.  The 
so-called  capitulations  of  the  empire, 
which  were  accepted  by  Charles,  con- 
tained not  the  slightest  guarantee 
against  religious  encroachments  on  the 
side  of  Rome. 

Persecutions  aimed  at  the  life  of  Lu- 
ther began  very  early.  Being  one  day 
accosted  by  a  stranger,  who  concealed 
ft  pistol  in  his  sleeve,  and  asked  him, 
'*  Why  do  you  walk  thus  alone  V  the 


52  Martin  Luoher, 

intrepid  hero  answered,  "  Because  I  am 
on  the  side  of  God,  who  is  my  strength 
and  my  shield."  The  unknown  person 
turned  pale  and  slunk  away.  The 
pope's  emissaries  in  Germany  openly 
demanded  the  death  of  Luther.  Flat- 
tery and  threats  were  used  alternately 
to  that  end.  Luther  said,  "  I  do  not 
wish  for  a  cardinal's  hat :  let  them  allow 
the  way  of  salvation  to  be  open  to 
Christians,  and  I  shall  be  satisfied. 
All  their  threats  do  not  frighten  me,  and 
all  their  promises  do  not  seduce  me." 
When  Francis  of  Sickingen,  the  most 
powerful  and  spirited  of  the  knights 
of  the  empire,  and  the  brave  and  en- 
lightened Ulrich  Yon  Hiitten  and 
others,  offered  aid,  and  said,  "  force  of 
arcns  was  required  to  drive  out  the 
devil,"  Luther  answered  in  those  im- 
mortal words:  "By  the  Word  the  world 
has  been  conquered ;  by  the  Word  the 
Church  has  been  saved ;  by  the  Word 


Martin  Luther.  53 

too,  she  will  be  restored :  I  do  not  de* 
gpise  your  offers,  but  I  will  not  lean 
apon  any  one  but  Christ." 

Luther's  writings  of  this  period  are 
the  finest  productions  of  his  pen.  His 
book  On  Good  Works  is  the  best  expo- 
sition of  the  doctrine  of  justification  by 
faith.  Melancthon  says,  in  reference 
to  this  treatise, — "No  writer  ever  came 
nearer  St.  Paul  than  Luther  has  done." 
In  the  same  year  (1520)  he  published 
that  grand  address  to  the  nobles  of  the 
German  nation,  On  the  Reformation 
of  Christendom,  which  may  be  consid- 
ered as  the  finest  specimen  of  the  poli- 
tical and  patriotic  wisdom  of  a  Chris- 
tian. There  he  shows  the  reality  and 
supreme  dignity  of  the  universal  priest- 
hood of  Christians,  and  at  the  same 
time  demands  a  thorough  reform  of  the 
locial  system  of  Germany  and  Italy, 
beginning  with  the  abrogation  of  the 
Usurped  power  of  the  pope,  while  he 


54  Martin  Luther. 

ealls  for  a  national  system  of  education 
as  the  foundation  of  a  better  order  oi 
things.  This  address,  published  on  the 
26th  June  1520,  electrified  the  nation. 
It  was  this  appeal  which  first  moved 
the  patriotic  and  sainted  spirit  of  Ul- 
rich  Zwingle,  the  Swiss  Reformer,  who 
tried  in  vain  to  dissuade  Rome  from 
endeavoring  to  crush  Luther  by  a  bull 
of  excommunication.  It  was  too  late. 
The  great  step  had  been  decided  upon. 
Luther  meanwhile  continued  his 
course  of  preaching  and  lecturing  at 
Wittemberg,  where  nearly  two  thous 
and  students  were  assembled.  He 
published  at  this  time  his  Treatise  on 
the  Mass,  in  which  he  applied  to  the 
Sacraments  the  pervading  doctrine  of 
faith,  proving  from  Scripture  that  every 
Sacrament  is  dead  without  faith  in  God's 
word  and  promises.  But  his  most  strik 
ing  work  of  this  period  is  that  on  the 
Babylonian  Captivity  of  the  Church 


Martin  Luther .  55 

(October,  1520),  in  which  he  boldly 
took  the  offensive  against  Kome,  attack- 
ing the  papacy  in  its  principles.  It  is 
remarkable  that  in  this  treatise  he 
speaks  of  the  baptism  of  infants,  who 
necessarily  are  incapable  of  faith,  as  oi 
an  apparent  contradiction,  which,  how- 
ever, might  be  defended.  Man  is  to 
have  faith  in  the  baptismal  vow,  (to  be 
ratified  later,  after  the  necessary  in- 
struction), and  therefore  he  must  not 
allow  himself  to  be  bound  by  any  othei 
vow,  and  must  consider  the  work  of 
his  vocation,  whatever  it  be,  as  equally 
sacred  with  that  of  priest  or  monk. 
Till  the  Christian  Church  is  organized 
upon  that  principle,  the  Christian  peo- 
ple live  in  Babylonian  captivity,  in 
oider  to  please  some  of  his  friends,  and 
show  to  the  world  that  he  was  not  in 
tractable,  he  addressed  a  letter  to  Leo 
X.,  and  inclosed  a  treatise,  On  the  L%o 
wty  of  the  Christian.    He  pities  the 


66  Martin  Luther . 

■  < 

pope  for  having  been  thrown  like  Dan- 
iel into  the  midst  of  wolves,  and  pre- 
dicts that  the  Roman  court  (Curia  Ro- 
mano) will  fall  because  she  hates  re- 
form, and  that  the  world  will  be  obliged, 
sooner  or  later,  to  apply  to  her  the  words 
of  the  prophet :  "  We  would  have  heal- 
ed Babylon,  but  she  is  not  healed :  for- 
sake her,  and  let  us  go  every  one  unto 
his  own  country."  (Jerem.  li.  9).  "  O 
most  holy  father,  (he  adds),  do  not  listen 
to  those  nattering  syrens  around  you ! " 
The  treatise  itself  is  a  sublime  and  suc- 
cinct exposition  of  the  two  truths,  that 
by  faith  the  soul  acquires  all  that  Christ 
has,  and  becomes  free  through  Him; 
but  then  it  begins  to  serve  His  brethren 
voluntarily  from  thankfulness  to  God. 
The  pope's  bull  arrived  in  due  time; 
but  found  the  German  nation  deaf  to 
Vts  curses,  and  armed  against  its  argu- 
ments. It  was  called  Dr.  Eck's  bull 
*nd  Luther  raised,  on  the  4th  Novem 


Martin  Luther.  57 

ber,  his  voice  of  thunder  against  it  in 
a  short  treatise  Against  the  Bull  of 
Antichrist;  and,  on  the  17th  of  the 
same  month,  he  drew  up,  before  a  no- 
tary and  five  witnesses,  a  solemn  pro- 
test, in  which  he  appealed  to  a  general 
council.  After  this  manifesto,  he  invit- 
ed the  university,  on  the  10th  of  De- 
cember, 1520,  to  see  the  anti-Christian 
bull  burnt  before  the  church  door,  and 
said :  "  Now  the  serious  work  begins ; 
I  have  begun  it  in  the  name  of  God — 
it  will  be  brought  to  an  end  by  his 
might."  But  where  was  the  power  to 
resist  the  pope,  if  the  emperor  support- 
ed the  pope's  cause  ?  And,  indeed,  he 
had  promised  this  support  to  the  pontif- 
ical minister  soon  after  his  coronation 
at  Aix-la-Chapelle  on  the  22d  October. 
He  declared,  however,  at  the  same  time, 
that  he  must  act  with  every  possible 
regard  towards  the  elector;  and  this 
prince  had  courage  enough  to  propose, 


58  Martin  Luther . 

as  the  only  just  measure,  to  grant  to 
Luther  a  safe-conduct,  and  place  him 
before  learned,  pious,  and  impartial 
judges.  Erasmus,  whom  he  invited, 
in  order  to  learn  his  opinion,  said, — 
"There  was  no  doubt  that  the  more 
virtuous  and  attached  to  the  Gospel 
any  man  was,  the  more  he  was  found 
to  incline  towards  Luther,  who  had 
been  condemned  only  by  two  universi- 
ties, and  by  them  had  not  been  con- 
futed." 

The  emperor  agreed  at  last  to  the 
proposal  of  the  elector  Frederic,  and 
convened  a  diet  at  Worms  for  6th  Jan- 
uary 1521,  where  the  two  questions  of 
religion  and  of  a  reform  in  the  consti- 
tution of  the  empire  were  to  be  treated. 
Luther,  though  in  a  suffering  state  of 
health,  resolved  immediately  to  appear 
when  summoned.  "  If  the  emperor  calls, 
it  is  God's  call, — I  must  go :  if  I  am  too 
weak  to  go  m  good  health,  I  shall  havt 


Martin  Luther.  59 

myself  carried  thither  sick.  They  will 
not  have  my  blood,  after  which  they 
thirst,  unless  it  is  God's  will.  Two 
things  I  cannot  do, — shrink  from  the  call 
nor  retract  my  opinions."  The  nuncio 
and  his  party,  on  their  side,  moved 
heaven  and  earth  to  procure  Luther's 
condemnation,  and  threatened  the  Ger- 
mans with  extermination,  saying,  "  We 
shall  excite  the  one  to  fight  against  the 
other,  that  all  may  perish  in  their  own 
blood,"  —  a  threat  which  the  papists 
have  carried  out  to  the  best  of  their 
power  during  two  hundred  years.  The 
emperor  permitted  the  nuncio  to  appear 
officially  in  the  diet,  and  to  try  to  con- 
vince the  princes  of  the  empire  there 
assembled.  Alexander  tried  in  vain  to 
communicate  to  the  assembly  his  theo 
logical  hatred,  or  to  obtain  that  Luthei 
should  be  condemned  as  one  judged  by 
the  pope,  his  books  burnt,  and  his  ad- 
Uwents  persecuted.      The    impression 


60  Martin  Luther . 

■  i  ■ 

produced  by  his  powerful  harangue  waa 
only  transitory :  even  princes  who  hated 
Luther  personally,  would  not  allow  his 
person  and  writings  and  the  general 
cause  of  reform  to  be  confounded,  and 
all  crushed  together.  The  abuses  and 
exactions  of  Rome  were  too  crying.  A 
committee,  appointed  by  the  diet,  pre- 
sented a  list  of  one  hundred  and  one 
grievances  of  the  German  nation  against 
Rome.  This  startled  the  emperor,  who, 
instead  of  ordering  Luther's  books  to 
be  burned,  issued  only  a  provisional 
order  that  they  should  be  delivered  to 
the  magistrates.  When  Luther  heard 
of  the  measures  preparing  against  him, 
he  composed  one  of  his  most  admirable 
treatises, — The  Exposition  of  tie  Mag- 
nificat, or  the  Canticle  of  the  Virgin 
Mary.  He  soon  learnt  what  he  waa 
expected  to  retract.  "  If  that  is  meant, 
I  remain  where  I  am :  if  the  emperor 
will  call  me  to  have  me  put  to  death,  I 


Martin  Luther.  61 

shall  go."  The  emperor  summoned 
him,  indeed,  on  the  6th  March,  1521, 
to  appear  before  him,  and  granted  him 
at  last  a  safe-conduct,  on  which  all  his 
friends  insisted.  Luther,  in  spite  of  all 
warnings,  set  out  with  the  imperial 
herald  on  the  2d  April.  Everywhere 
on  the  road  he  saw  the  imperial  edict 
against  his  book  posted  up,  but  wit- 
nessed also  the  hearty  sympathies  of  the 
nation.  At  Erfurt  the  herald  gave  way 
to  the  universal  request,  and,  against 
his  instructions,  consented  to  Luther's 
preaching  a  sermon, — none  the  less  re- 
markable for  not  containing  a  single 
word  about  himself.  On  the  16th  Lu- 
ther entered  the  imperial  city  amidst 
an  immense  concourse  of  people.  On 
his  approach  to  Worms,  the  elector's 
chancellor  entreated  him,  in  the  name 
of  his  master,  not  to  enter  a  town  where 
hie  death  was  decided.  The  answer 
which  Luther  returned  was  simply  this: 

i 


62  Martin  Luther. 

"  Tell  jour  master,  that  if  there  wer& 
bs  many  devils  at  Worms  as  tiles  on  its 
roofs,  I  would  enter."  When  surround- 
ed by  his  friends  on  the  morning  of  the 
17th,  on  which  day  he  was  to  appear 
before  the  august  assembly,  he  said : — 
"  Christ  is  to  me  what  the  head  of  the 
gorgon  was  to  Perseus  :  I  must  hold  it 
up  against  the  devil's  attack."  When 
the  hour  approached,  he  fell  upon  his 
knees,  and  uttered  in  great  agony  a 
prayer  such  as  can  only  be  pronounced 
by  a  man  filled  with  the  spirit  of  Him 
who  prayed  at  Gethsemane.  Friends 
took  down  his  words ;  and  the  authen- 
tic document  has  been  published  by 
the  great  historian  of  the  Reformation, 
fie  rose  from  prayer  and  followed  the 
herald.  Before  the  throne  he  was  asked 
two  questions,  —  Whether  he  acknowl- 
edged the  works  before  him  tc  have 
been  written  by  himself?  and  whether 
be  would  retract  what  he  had  said  in 


Martin  Luther.  63 

them  ?  Luther  requested  to  be  told  the 
titles  of  the  books,  and  then,  addressing 
the  emperor,  acknowledged  them  as 
his ;  as  to  the  second,  he  asked  for  time 
to  reflect,  as  he  might  otherwise  con- 
found his  own  opinions  with  the  declar 
ations  of  the  Word  of  God,  and  either 
say  too  much,  or  deny  Christ  and  say 
too  little,  incurring  thus  the  penalty 
which  Christ  had  denounced, — "  Who- 
soever shall  deny  me  before  men,  him 
will  I  also  deny  before  my  Father 
which  is  in  heaven."  The  emperor, 
struck  by  this  very  measured  answer, 
which  some  mistook  for  hesitation, 
after  a  short  consultation,  granted  a 
day's  delay  for  the  answer,  which  was 
to  be  by  word  of  mouth.  Luther's  re- 
solution was  taken :  he  only  desired  to 
convince  his  friends,  as  well  as  his  ene- 
mies, that  he  did  not  act  with  precipi- 
tation at  so  decisive  a  moment.  The 
next  day  he  employed  in  prayer  and 


Martin  Luther, 


meditation,  making  a  solemn  vow  upon 
the  volume  of  Scripture  to  remain  faith- 
ful to  the  gospel,  should  he  have  to  seal 
his  confession  with  his  blood.  Luther's 
address  to  the  emperor  has  been  pre- 
served, and  is  a  master-piece  of  elo- 
quence as  well  as  of  courage.  Confin- 
ing his  answer  to  the  first  point,  he  said, 
that  "  nobody  could  expect  him  to  re- 
tract indiscriminately  all  he  had  written 
in  those  books,  since  even  his  enemies 
admitted  that  they  contained  much  that 
was  good  and  conformable  to  Scripture. 
But  I  have  besides,"  he  continued, 
"laid  open  the  almost  incredible  cor- 
ruptions of  popery,  and  given  utterance 
to  complaints  almost  universal.  By 
retracting  what  I  have  said  on  this 
score,  should  I  not  fortify  rank  tyranny, 
and  open  a  still  wider  door  to  enormoua 
impieties?  Nor  can  I  recall  what,  in 
my  controversial  writings,  I  have  ex- 
pressed with  too  great  harshness  against 


Martin  Luther.  65 

the  supporters  of  popery,  my  opponents, 
lest  I  should  give  them  encouragement 
to  oppress  Christian  people  still  more. 
I  can  only  say  with  Christ, — *  If  I  have 
spoken  evil,  bear  witness  of  the  evil,' 
(John  xviii.  23.)  I  thank  God  I  see  how 
that  the  gospel  is  in  our  days,  as  it  was 
before,  the  occasion  of  doubt  and  discord. 
This  is  the  doctrine  of  the  word  of  God, 
• — 1 1  am  not  come  to  send  peace  but  a 
sword,'  (Matt.  x.  34.)  May  this  new  reign 
not  begin,  and  still  less  continue  under 
pernicious  auspices.  The  Pharaohs  of 
Egypt,  the  kings  of  Babylon  and  of 
Israel,  never  worked  more  effectually 
for  their  own  ruin  than  when  they 
thought  to  strengthen  their  power, 
speak  thus  boldly,  not  because  I  thinl 
that  such  great  princes  want  my  advice, 
but  because  I  will  fulfill  my  duty  to- 
wards Germany,  as  she  has  a  right  to 
expect  from  her  children."  The  emper- 
or, probably  in  order  to  confound  the 

6* 


66  Martin  Luther. 

poor  monk,  who  having  been  kept 
standing  bo  long  in  the  midst  of  such 
an  assembly,  and  in  a  suffocating  heat, 
was  almost  exhausted  in  body,  ordered 
him  to  repeat  the  discourse  in  Latin. 
His  friends  told  him  he  might  excuse 
himself,  but  he  rallied  boldly,  and  pro- 
nounced his  speech  in  Latin  with  the 
same  composure  and  energy  as  at  first ; 
and  to  the  reiterated  question,  whether 
he  would  retract  ?  Luther  replied, — "  1 
cannot  submit  my  faith  either  to  the 
pope  or  to  councils,  for  it  is  clear  that 
they  have  often  erred  and  contradicted 
themselves.  I  will  retract  nothing,  un- 
less convicted  by  the  very  passages  of 
the  word  of  God  which  I  have  quoted." 
And  then,  looking  up  to  the  august 
assembly  before  him,  he  concluded, 
saying, — "  Here  I  take  my  stand :  I  can- 
not do  otherwise:  so  help  me  God. 
A.men !"  The  courage  of  Luther  mado 
a  deep  impression  even  upon  the  em 


Martin  Luther,  67 

peror,  who  exclaimed, — "  Forsooth,  the 
monk  speaks  with  intrepidity,  and  with 
a  confident  spirit."  The  chancellor  of 
the  empire  said, — "The  emperor  and  th» 
state  will  see  what  steps  to  take  against 
an  obstinate  heretic."  All  his  friendg 
trembled  at  this  nndisgnised  declara- 
tion. Lnther  repeated,  "So  help  me 
God!  I  can  retract  nothing."  Upon 
this  he  was  dismissed,  then  recalled, 
and  again  asked  whether  he  wonld  re- 
tract a  part  of  what  he  had  written. 
"  I  have  no  other  answer  to  make,"  was 
his  reply.  The  Italians  and  Spaniards 
were  amazed.  Luther  was  told  the  diet 
would  come  to  a  decision  the  next  day. 
When  returning  to  his  inn,  he  quieted 
the  anxious  multitude  with  a  few  words, 
who,  seeing  the  Spaniards  and  Italians 
of  the  emperor's  household  follow  him 
with  imprecations  and  threats,  exclaim- 
ed lcudly,  in  the  apprehension  that  he 
Vas  about  to  be  conducted  to  prison. 


68  Martin  Luther . 

The  elector  and  other  princes  now 
saw  it  was  their  duty  to  protect  such  a 
man,  and  sent  their  ministers  to  assure 
him  of  their  support.  The  next  day 
the  emperor  declared,  "he  could  not 
allow  that  a  single  monk  should  disturb 
the  peace  of  the  Church,  and  he  was  re- 
solved to  let  him  depart,  under  condi- 
tion of  creating  no  trouble ;  but  to  pro- 
ceed against  his  adherents  as  against 
heretics  who  are  under  excommunica- 
tion, and  interdict  them  by  all  means 
in  his  power ;  and  he  demanded  of  the 
estates  of  the  empire  to  conduct  them- 
selves as  faithful  Christians."  This  ad- 
dress, the  suggestion  of  the  Italian  and 
Spanish  party,  created  great  commotion. 
The  most  violent  members  of  that  party 
demanded  of  the  emperor  that  Luther 
should  be  burnt,  and  his  ashes  thrown 
into  the  Rhine,  and  it  is  now  proved 
that,  towards  the  end  of  his  life,  Charles 
reproached  himself  bitterly  for  not  hav 


Martin  Luther .  69 

ing  thus  sacrificed  his  word  for  the  good 
of  the  Church.  But  the  great  majority 
of  the  German  party,  even  Luther's 
personal  enemies,  rejected  such  a  pro- 
position with  horror,  as  unworthy  of 
the  good  faith  of  Germans.  Some  said 
openly  they  had  a  child,  misled  by  for- 
eigners, for  an  emperor.  The  emperor 
decided  at  last  that  three  days  should 
be  given  to  Luther  to  reconsider  what 
he  had  said.  The  theologians  began  to 
try  their  skill  upon  him.  "  Give  up 
the  Bible  as  the  last  appeal ;  you  allow 
all  heresies  have  come  from  the  Bible." 
Luther  reproached  them  for  their  unbe- 
lief; and  added:  "The  pope  is  not  judge 
in  the  things  that  belong  to  the  word 
of  God ;  every  Christian  man  must  see 
and  understand  himself  how  he  is  to 
I  ve  and  to  die."  Two  more  days  were 
granted,  without  producing  any  other 
"esult  than  Luther's  declaration,  —  "I 
»m  ready  to  renounce  the  safe-conduct, 


TO  Martin  Luther. 

to  deliver  my  life  and  body  into  the 
hands  of  the  emperor,  but  the  word  of 
God,  never  1  I  am  also  ready  to  accept 
a  council,  but  one  which  shall  judge 
only  after  the  Scripture."  "  What  re- 
medy can  you  then  name  ?"  asked  the 
venerable  archbishop  of  Treves.  "  Only 
that  indicated  by  Gamaliel,"  replied 
Luther ;  "  if  this  council  or  this  work  be 
of  men,  it  will  come  to  naught ;  but  if 
it  be  of  God,  ye  cannot  overthrow  it, 
lest  haply  ye  be  found  even  to  fight 
against  God."    (Acts  v.,  38,  39.) 

Frederic  the  Wise  knew  well  that 
Luther's  life  was  no  longer  6afe  any- 
where at  this  moment.  Charles  pro- 
nounced an  edict  of  condemnation, 
couched  in  the  severest  terms.  Luther 
was  placed  under  the  ban  of  the  empire. 
After  twenty-one  days  his  safe-conduct 
would  expire,  and  all  persons  be  forbid- 
den to  feed  or  to  give  him  shelter,  and 
enjoined  to  deliver  him  to  the  emperoj 


Martin  Luther.  71 

or  to  place  him  in  safe  keeping*  till  the 
imperial  orders  should  arrive;  all  his 
adherents  were  to  be  seized,  and  their 
goods  confiscated;  his  books  burnt; 
and  the  authors  of  all  other  books  and 
prints  obnoxious  to  the  pope  and  the 
church  were  to  be  taken  and  punished. 
Whoever  should  violate  this  edict 
should  incur  the  ban  of  the  empire. 

This  Draconian  edict  had  been  passed 
by  the  majority;  the  friends  of  Luther, 
foreseeing  the  issue,  had  left  Worms 
previously.  Such  was  the  condign  pun- 
nishment  that  befell  the  Germans  for 
having  chosen  as  their  emperor  the 
most  powerful  foreign  prince  of  Europe, 
brought  up  among  the  most  bigoted  of 
nations  Under  these  circumstances, 
Frederic  did  what  he  could.  In  the 
forest  if  Thuringia,  not  far  from  Eise- 
nach, i/uther  (who  was  not  in  the  se- 
cret) was  stopped  by  armed  knights, 
■et  upon  a  horse,  and  conducted  to  the 


72  Martin  Luther. 

fortified  castle  a  Dove  Eisenach  —  the 
Wartburg.  Here  the  dress  of  a  knight 
was  ready  for  him.  He  was  desired  to 
consider  himself  as  a  prisoner,  and  to 
*et  his  beard  grow.  None  of  his  friends, 
even  at  Wittemberg,  knew  what  had 
become  of  him.  He  had  disappeared ; 
the  majority  believed  he  had  been  kid- 
napped by  his  powerful  enemies.  Such 
was  the  indignation  of  the  people  at 
this  supposed  treachery,  that  the  princes 
opposed  to  the  Reformation,  and  even 
the  pope's  agents,  began  to  be  alarmed, 
and  took  pains  to  convince  the  people 
that  Luther  had  not  met  with  ill  usage. 
Luther  remained  ten  months  at  the 
Wartburg;  and  it  was  here  that  he 
began  his  greatest  work,  the  translation 
of  the  Bible  from  the  original  Hebrew 
and  Greek  text.  Although  suffering 
much  in  health  from  the  confinement 
which  he  modified  latterly  by  excur 
•ions  in  the  woods  around  the  castle, 


Mh 


Martin  Luther .  73 

he  soon  also  began  to  compose  ne* 
works,  and  obtained  the  necessary  book* 
through  Melancthon,  to  whom  he  id 
time  made  known  that  he  was  safe. 

It  is  a  most  astonishing  fact,  highly 
characteristic  both  of  Lnther  and  of  the 
German  nation,  that,  though  for  nearly 
four  years,  the  true  doctrine  of  the  gos- 
pel had  been  preached  through  Ger- 
many, and  the  Romish  rites  and  cere- 
monies exhibited  as  abuses,  that  yet 
not  one  single  word  or  portion  of  these 
ceremonies  had  been  changed.  Luther 
consciously  believed,  what  may  be  called 
the  latent  conviction  of  his  countrymen, 
that  inward  truth  will  necessarily  cor- 
rect outward  errors,  and  mold  for  itself 
fitting  forms  of  expression.  "  The  Spirit 
bi  God,"  he  often  said,  "  must  first  have 
regenerated  minds,  imbued  with  true 
gospel  doctrine;  then  the  new  forma 
will  result  naturally  from  that  Spirit." 
But  it  was  clearly  an  unnatural  and 


74  Martin  Luther. 

highly  dangerous  state  of  things,  that 
the  outward  acts  of  worship  should  be 
utterly  at  variance  with  the  belief  of 
the  worshipers;  and  Luther  saw  that 
if  he  would  not  take  the  matter  in  hand, 
others  were  certain  to  do  so ;  the  people 
themselves  might  proceed  to  precipitate 
acts.  Luther  felt  this,  and  so  strongly, 
that  he  broke  silence ;  and  in  September 
published  a  declaration  against  monk- 
ish vows,  in  the  form  of  theses,  ad- 
dressed to  the  bishops  and  deacons  of 
Wittemberg.  The  audacious  attempt 
of  the  Cardinal- Archbishop  of  Mayence, 
Albert  of  Brandenburg,  to  renew  at 
Halle  the  sale  of  indulgences,  called 
forth  Luther's  philippic  (1st  November) 
Against  the  new  Idol  of  Halle. 

This  attack  frightened  even  the  court 
of  the  elector  of  Saxony,  who  was  at 
that  time  rather  of  opinion  that  Luther 
could  do  nothing  better  than  to  cause 
himself  to  be  forgotten.     "  I  canno* 


Martin  Luther .  75 

a. low  him  to  attack  my  brother  elector, 
and  to  disturb  the  public  peace."  Lu- 
ther's greatness  of  soul  had  elevated 
the  minds  of  the  princes  for  the  mo- 
ment ;  they  had  saved  his  life,  but  they 
wished  now  to  live  in  peace,  such  as 
they  had  before.  Luther  was  indignant. 
"  Do  they  think  I  suffered  a  defeat  at 
Worms?  It  was  a  brilliant  victory:  so 
many  against  me,  and  not  one  to  gain- 
say the  truth."  To  Spalatin,  the  chap- 
lain and  adviser  of  the  elector,  he  thus 
writes :  "  How,  the  elector  will  not  al- 
low me  to  write !  and  I,  for  my  part, 
will  not  allow  him  to  disallow  my 
writing.  I  will  rather  destroy  you,  and 
the  prince,  and  every  creature !  Hav- 
ing resisted  the  pope,  should  I  not  resist 
his  agents?"  At  the  request  of  Me* 
lancthon,  he  laid  aside  the  treatise  he 
aad  prepared,  but  wrote  to  the  Cardinal 
Archbishop :  "  Thf>.  God  who  raised 
*uch  a  fire  out  of  the  spark  kindled  by 


76  Ma i  tin  Luther . 

the  words  of  a  poor  mendicant  monk 
Lives  still ;  doubt  it  not.  He  will  resist 
a  cardinal  of  Mayence,  even  though 
supported  by  four  emperors ;  for  above 
all  He  lives  to  lay  low  the  high  cedar, 
and  humble  the  proud  Pharaohs.  Put 
down  the  idol  within  a  fortnight,  or  I 
shall  attack  you  publicly." 

The  cardinal  was  frightened  by  the 
sternness  of  the  man  of  God,  and  had 
the  meanness  to  play  the  hypocrite. 
He  thanked  Luther  by  letter  for  his 
"  Christian  and  brotherly  reproof," 
promising,  "  with  the  help  of  God,  to 
live  henceforth  as  a  pious  bishop  and 
Christian  prince."  Luther,  however, 
could  not  credit  the  sincerity  of  this 
declaration:  "This  man,  scarcely  ca- 
pable to  rule  over  a  small  parish,  will 
stand  in  the  way  of  salvation  as  long 
as  he  does  not  throw  off  the  mask  of  a 
cardinal  and  the  pomp  of  a  bishop." 

The  fact  was   the  cardinal   elccto? 


Martin  Luther .  77 

wanted  money.  He  had  had  to  pay 
26.000  ducats  to  Kome  for  his  pallium, 
and  half  of  that  sum  he  had  charged 
upon  the  Tenders  of  indulgences  in  his 
ecclesiastical  province ;  he  himself  hav- 
ing to  spend  all  his  princely  income  on 
his  court. 

During  these  nearly  ten  months  of 
seclusion,  Luther's  health  suffered  great- 
ly, and  subjected  him  to  visions  and 
hallucinations,  in  which  he  believed  he 
saw  the  devil  in  form.  His  absence 
from  his  congregation,  his  students,  and 
his  friends  and  books  at  "Wittemberg, 
weighed  heavily  upon  him.  Still,  he  held 
out  patiently  till  events  occurred  which 
called  upon  the  Reformer  no  longer 
to  absent  himself.  He  reappeared, 
without  previous  notice,  among  hia 
friends  at  Wittemberg,  whom  he  found 
in  great  commotion.  Thirteen  monks 
af  Luther's  own  convent  had  left  it  on 
the  ground  of  religious  conviction,  with 


78  Martin  Luther, 

the  approbation  of  Melancthon,  who 
also  countenanced  the  general  demand 
for  the  abrogation  of  the  mass.  "  What 
we  are  to  celebrate,"  said  he,  "  in  the 
communion,  is  a  sign  of  the  grace 
giyen  us  through  Christ,  but  differing 
from  symbols  invented  by  man  by  its 
inward  power  of  rendering  the  heart 
certain  of  the  will  of  God."  This  is 
the  simplest  and  truest  form  of  Luther's 
own  view  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  when 
he  looked  on  it  not  scholastically. 
There  is  a  reality  in  Christ's  sacrifice 
for  us ;  indeed,  it  is  the  reality  of  our 
destiny  that  we  remember  it,  as  He  has 
bidden  His  disciples  to  do :  it  has  there- 
fore naturally  an  inward  force,  not  ar 
imaginary  effect,  like  looking  on  a  cross 
and  similar  outward  forms.  What  ca- 
lamities would  the  world  have  been 
spared  if  this  view,  in  its  profound  sim- 
olicity  and  depth,  had  not  been  dressed 
up  in  formularies  partaking  of   that 


Martin  Luther.  79 

very  scholasticism  which  the  Reforma- 
tion was  to  abolish !  The  prior  of  the 
convent  discontinued  from  that  time 
low  masses.  It  was  high  time,  indeed, 
that  this  central  point  of  Christian  wor- 
ship should  be  taken  in  hand  by  the 
Reformers ;  for  at  Zwickau,  in  Saxony, 
an  enthusiast,  named  Stork,  arose,  who 
pretended  to  have  a  commission  from 
the  archangel  Gabriel  to  reform  and 
govern  the  Church  and  the  world,  and 
who  was  supported  in  this  by  a  fanatic 
named  Thomas  Munzer.  When  they 
appeared  at  Wittemberg  announcing 
their  visions,  even  Melancthon  was 
startled,  and  especially  hesitated  as  to 
the  question  of  psedo-baptism.  Carl- 
stadt,  Luther's  disciple  and  friend,  ad- 
vocated the  most  revolutionary  changes. 
Be  broke  down  the  images,  preached 
bgainst  learning  and  study,  and  ex- 
norted  his  hearers  to  go  home  and  gain 
\heir  bread  by  digging  the  ground. 


80  Martin  Luther. 

Luther  did  not  hesitate  a  moment  to 
3ondemn  the  whole  movement  as  a  de- 
.usion  for  men  who  gloried  in  their  own 
wisdom,  which  could  only  cause  a  tri- 
umph to  the  enemies  of  reform.  At  an 
interview  which  he  had  with  Munzer 
and  Horst,  they  said  they  could  prove 
to  him  that  they  had  the  Spirit ;  for 
they  would  tell  him  what  now  passed 
in  his  mind.  Luther  challenged  them 
to  the  proof.  "  You  think  in  your  own 
heart  that  we  are  right."  Luther  ex- 
claimed,— "  Get  thee  behind  me,  Satan," 
and  dismissed  them.  "  They  are  quite 
right,"  he  said  to  his  friends  afterwards ; 
"  that  thought  crossed  my  mind  as  to 
some  of  their  assertions.  A  spirit  evi- 
dently was  in  them,  but  what  could  it 
be  but  the  evil  one?"  Here  we  see  the 
difference  between  Luther  and  Melanc- 
thon.  Luther  was  not  startled  from 
his  solid  judgment  as  Melancthon  had 
been  by  this  movement;  and  Melano* 


Martin  Luther.  81 

»  — 

thon,  in  after  years,  was  a  more  violent 
antagonist  of  anabaptism  than  Luther. 
It  was  on  the  3d  of  March,  1522,  that 
Luther  left  for  ever  his  asylum,  and 
plunged  into  the  midst  of  struggles 
verj  different  in  their  character  from 
those  which  he  had  hitherto  so  victori- 
ously overcome.  Before  arriving  at 
Wittemberg,  he  wrote  a  remarkable 
letter  to  the  elector: — "You  wish  to 
know  what  to  do  in  the  present  trouble- 
some circumstances.  Do  nothing.  As 
for  myself,  let  the  command  of  the  em- 
peror be  executed  in  town  and  country. 
Do  not  resist  if  they  come  to  seize  and 
kill  me ;  only  let  the  doors  remain  open 
for  the  preaching  of  the  word  of  God." 
One  of  the  editors  of  Luther's  works 
observes  on  the  margin, — "This  is  a 
marvelous  writing  of  the  third  and  last 
Elijah."  The  elector  was  touched  by 
Luther's  magnanimity.  "  I  will  take 
up  his  defence  at  the  diet ;  only  let  him 


Martin  Luther 


explain  his  reasons  for  having  returned 
to  Wittemberg,  and  say  he  did  so  with- 
out my  orders."  Luther  complied,  add- 
ing,— "  I  can  bear  your  highness'  dis- 
favor. I  have  done  my  duty  towards 
those  whom  God  has  intrusted  to  me.w 
A  nd,  indeed,  he  made  it  his  first  duty  to 
preach  almost  daily  the  gospel  of  peace 
to  his  flock.  "No  violence!"  he  ex- 
claimed, "  against  the  superstitious  01 
unbelieving.  Let  him  who  believes 
draw  near,  and  let  him  who  does  not 
believe  stand  aloof.  Nobody  is  to  be 
constrained ;  liberty  is  essential  to  faith 

and  all  that  belongs  to  it You 

have  acted  in  faith,"  he  said,  "  but  do 
not  forget  charity,  and  the  wisdom  which 
mothers  show  in  the  care  of  their  child- 
ren. Let  the  reform  of  the  mass  be  un« 
dertaken  with  earnest  prayer.  The  power 
of  the  word  is  irresistible :  the  idols  of 
Athens  fell  not  by  force,  but  before  the 
mighty  words  of  the  apostle."    This 


Martin  Luther.  8b 

evangelical  meekness  of  the  man  who  had 
braved  pope  and  emperor,  and  knew  not 
fear,  acted  with  divine  power  upon  all 
minds.  The  agitation  and  sedition  dis- 
appeared. The  pretended  prophets  dis- 
persed, or  were  silenced  in  public  debate. 
On  the  21st  September,  1522,  the 
translation  of  the  New  Testament  ap- 
peared in  two  volumes  folio,  which 
sold  at  about  a  ducat  and  a  half.  The 
translation  of  the  Old  Testament  wa 
commenced  in  the  same  year.  Thou- 
sands of  copies  were  read  with  inde- 
scribable delight  by  the  people;  who 
had  now  access  to  the  words  of  Him 
whom  Luther  had  preached  to  them  as 
the  author  of  our  salvation,  in  theii 
mother  tongue,  in  a  purity  and  clear 
ness  unknown  before,  and  never  sui< 
Oassed  since.  By  choosing  the  Fran- 
conian  dialect  in  use  in  the  imperial 
chancery,  Luther  made  himself  intelli 
gille  both  to  those  whose  vernacular 


84  Martin  Luther. 

dialect  was  High  German  or  Low  Ger- 
man. Luther  translated  faithfully  but 
vernacularly,  with  a  native  grace  which 
op  to  this  day  makes  his  Bible  the  stand* 
ard  of  the  German  language.  It  is 
Luther's  genius  applied  to  the  Bible 
which  has  preserved  the  only  unity, 
which  is.  in  our  days,  remaining  to  the 
German  nation, — that  of  language,  lit- 
erature, and  thought.  There  is  no  simi- 
lar instance  in  the  known  history  of  the 
world  of  a  single  man  achieving  such 
a  work.  His  prophetic  mind  foresaw 
that  the  Scripture  would  pervade  the 
living  languages  and  tongues  all  over 
the  earth — a  process  going  on  still  with 
more  activity  than  ever. 

Meanwhile  the  vanity  and  presump- 
tion of  Henry  YHI.  induced  him  to 
£iublish  a  book  against  Luther,  in  which 
ho  heaped  upon  Luther  every  oppro- 
Drious  epithet ;  even  called  in  question 
his  honesty  and  sincerity,  and  declared 


Martin  Luther .  85 

him  worthy  to  be  burned.  His  Defence 
of  the  Seven  Sacraments  merely  reca- 
pitulates the  old  scholastic  tradition 
without  the  slightest  understanding  of 
the  Bible  or  of  the  evangelical  doctrine. 
Henry's  ambassador  declared  to  the 
pope,  in  presenting  the  book,  that  the 
king  was  now  ready  to  use  the  sword 
against  Luther's  adherents,  after  hav- 
ing refuted  the  errors  of  Luther  him- 
self. Luther,  after  having  read  the  book, 
declared,  contrary  to  the  desire  of  the 
elector  and  of  his  other  friends,  that 
he  must  answer  it.  "  Look,"  he  writes, 
"what  weapons  are  used  against  me: 
fire  and  the  fury  of  those  stupid  Thom- 
ists.  Let  them  burn  me :  alive  I  shall 
be  the  enemy  of  popery;  burnt  I  shall 
be  its  ruin.  Everywhere  they  will  find 
me  in  their  way,  like  a  bear  or  a  lion.' 
In  the  answer  itself  he  pays  the  king  in 
ais  own  coin.     After  having  taken  th< 

wown  from  his  head  and  beaten  hin* 
a 


86  Martin  Luther. 

like  any  other  controversial  writer,  he 
exclaims,  —  "  I  cry  gospel !  gospel !  — 
Christ  I  Christ !  and  they  cease  not  to 
answer, — Usages,  usages  1  ordinances, 
ordinances !  fathers,  fathers !  The  apos- 
tle St.  Paul  annihilates  with  a  thunder- 
storm from  heaven  all  these  fooleries  of 
Henry."  The  king  wrote  to  the  elector 
and  the  Dukes  of  Saxony,  exhorting 
♦hem  to  extirpate  this  heresy,  as  being 
the  revival  of  that  of  Wyeliffe.  Their 
answer  referred  Henry  to  the  future 
council.  The  cause  of  the  Reformation 
suffered  nothing  from  Henry's  attacks 
and  the  invectives  of  his  courtiers.  The 
movement  against  the  sacerdotal  and 
monkish  vows  extended  through  the 
whole  of  Germany —  affecting  equally 
priests  and  laymen.  Zealous  preachers 
of  the  gospel  rose  from  all  ranks.  Noble 
and  pious  women  came  forward  to  de- 
clare their  faith.  Luther's  activity  waa 
tnparalleled.     In  1522  he  published 


Martin  Luther .  87 

one  hundred  and  thirty  treatises,  and 
eighty-three  in  the  following  year. 

The  whole  national  literature  of  Ger- 
many became  Protestant ;  and  it  is  cer- 
tainly a  remarkable  fact,  that,  in  spite 
of  the  Reformation  having  since  lost 
almost  one-half  01  Germany,  its  litera- 
ture, as  well  as  its  historical  learning 
and  philology,  still  remains  Protest- 
ant. All  the  free  cities,  which  were 
the  cradle  of  the  fine  arts  as  well  as  of 
the  wealth  of  the  country,  declared  in 
favor  of  the  Reformation.  In  Saxony 
there  was,  as  Luther  had  proposed  and 
demanded,  perfect  liberty  of  conscience : 
the  Romish  bishops  had  their  preachers 
as  well  as  the  Reformers. 

Luther's  heart  expanded  in  the  con- 
sciousness of  the  Reformers'  success 
Buch  as  he  had  never  hoped  to  see. 
But  he  shrunk  from  the  idea  that  this 
work  should  be  regarded  as  his,  and 
that  he  should  have  the  honor  of  it 


Martin  Luther, 


"  My  true  disciples,"  he  said,  "  do  no* 
be'ieve  in  Luther,  but  in  Jesus  Christ; 
I  myself  care  nothing  about  Luther. 
What  is  it  to  me  whether  he  be  a  saint 
or  a  miscreant  ?  It  is  not  him  I  preach, 
but  Christ.  If  the  devil  can,  let  him 
have  Christ ;  but  if  Christ  remains  ours, 
we  also  shall  subsist." 

When  Leo  X.  died  in  this  year  (1522,) 
Adrian,  the  Flemish  tutor  of  Charles  Y., 
his  successor,  a  single-minded  professor, 
could  not  (as  Jarus  tells  us)  at  first  con- 
ceive how  people  could  find  a  difficulty 
in  the  matter  of  indulgences,  which  he 
had  explained  so  well  in  his  lectures, 
till  a  cardinal  remarked  to  him,  that 
the  unbelieving  people  had  no  faith  in 
indulgences  whatsoever,  and  that  some 
of  those  who  believed  in  Christ,  thought 
that  exactly  for  that  reason  they  did 
not  want  them.  "The  Church  must 
reform,"  said  he,  "  but  step  by  step.' 
*  Yes,"  said  Luther,   "  putting  som« 


Martin  Luther.  89 

eenturies  between  every  step."  No- 
body wanted  his  reforms  less  than  the 
Romans ;  and  Adrian  exclaimed  at  last, 
-— ■"  How  unfortunate  is  the  position  of 
the  popes,  who  are  not  even  free  to  do 
good," 

In  November  1522,  the  diet  assem- 
bled at  Nuremberg  on  account  of  an 
impending  war  with  the  Turks.  While 
the  nuncio  and  the  bishops  demanded 
Luther's  death,  the  churches  of  the  im- 
perial free  city  resounded  with  the 
doctrine  of  the  gospel;  monks  being 
amongst  the  most  zealous  preachers. 
What  a  change  from  the  state  of  things 
at  Worms  in  April,  1521 !  The  muni- 
cipal council  of  the  free  city  declared 
that  if  those  preachers  were  to  be  seized 
by  force,  they  would  instantly  set  them 
free  by  force.  The  legate  was  obliged 
to  abandon  his  plan  of  arresting  them 
in  the  pope's  name,  as  the  diet  declared 
itself  incompetent  to  do  so.     Adrian's 

8* 


90  Ma i  tin  Luther. 

sincere  avowal  of  the  horrible  abuses 
of  Rome  confirmed  the  people  in  the 
belief  that  Luther'  and  the  gospel  were 
right,  and  made  his  threatening  brief, 
addressed  to  the  elector,  whom  he  de- 
clared worthy  of  death  and  eternal 
damnation,  appear  as  ridiculous  as  it 
was  arrogant.  Luther  and  all  his 
friends,  whose  advice  the  elector  asked 
at  this  critical  moment,  declared  that 
he  ought  not  to  fight  for  the  gospel, 
seeing  that  the  people  without  whose 
consent  he  could  not  declare  war,  would 
not  in  the  spirit  of  faith  declare  for  such 
a  measure.  But  other  princes  were 
frightened,  because  they  had  no  faith 
whatever,  except  in  superior  strength 
and  power  of  pope  and  emperor.  "  Let 
diem  take  care,"  said  Luther,  "  if  they 
persecute  the  gospel,  there  will  be  a 
rebellion  and  civil  war,  and  the  prince* 
will  be  in  danger  of  losing  their 
dominions.    They  wish  to  destroy  me, 


Martin  Luther,  91 

»  i  .1  .      . 

but  I  wish  to  save  them.  Christ  lives 
and  reigns ;  and  I  shall  live  and  reign 
with  Him."  Indeed,  a  bloody  perse- 
cution began  in  many  parts  of  Germany 
arid  in  the  Netherlands.  Four  Augus- 
tinian  monks  of  Antwerp  were  the  first 
martyrs;  they  were  burnt  on  the  1st 
July,  1523.  Their  blood  called  forth 
a  rich  harvest  of  new  witnesses  in  Brus- 
sels and  elsewhere. 

When  the  successor  of  Adrian  VI., 
Clement  VH.,  (Julius  de  Medici,)  sent 
in  1524  the  celebrated  legate  Cam- 
peggi  to  Nuremberg,  he  intended,  ac- 
coiding  to  usage,  on  passing  through 
Augsburg,  to  give  the  people  the  papai 
benediction ;  but  finding  that  the  cere- 
mony called  forth  public  derision,  the 
legate  entered  Nuremberg  as  much  in- 
ecgnito  as  Luther  had  entered  Worms 
two  years  before.  The  German  princes 
Asked  what  had  become  of  the  one  hun- 
dred and  one  grievances  of  the  German 


92  Martin  Luther . 

nation,  to  which  Rome  never  had  deign  • 
ed  to  return  an  answer.  Campeggi  de- 
clared the  document  to  have  been  con- 
Bidered  at  Home  merely  as  a  private 
pamphlet ;  on  which  the  diet  in  great 
indignation,  insisted  upon  the  necessity 
of  an  universal  council,  and  proceeded 
to  annul  the  edict  of  Worms ;  declaring, 
however,  in  their  communication  to  the 
pope,  that  "  it  should  be  conformed  to 
as  much  as  possible  ;"  which,  with  re- 
spect to  many  princes  and  cities,  meant 
not  at  all.  Finally,  it  was  resolved 
that  a  diet,  to  be  held  at  Spires  in  No- 
vember, was  to  decide  on  religious  dif- 
ferences. Many  states  which  had  hith- 
erto kept  aloof,  —  the  landgrave  of 
Brandenburg,  (not  the  elector,  a  strong 
papist,)  at  the  head, — declared  imme- 
diately for  the  reform,  and  against  the 
*even  sacraments,  the  abuses  of  the 
mass,  the  worship  of  saints  and  su- 
premacy of  the  pope.     "  That  is  a  good 


Martzn  Luther .  93 

move,"  said  Luther.  "Frederic  must 
lose  his  electoral  hat,"  cried  the  Roman 
agent,  "  and  France  and  England  must 
interfere."  A  catholic  league  was 
formed,  by  Bavarian  and  other  bishops, 
at  Eatisbon,  under  Campeggi's  direction 
and  presidency.  But  the  princes  were 
still  afraid  of  the  universally  spreading 
national  movement.  Charles  threw  his 
power  into  the  balance,  and  declared 
that  not  the  German  nation,  but  the 
emperor  alone,  had  a  right  to  demand 
a  council,  and  the  pope  alone  had  the 
right  to  grant  it.  His  designated  sue 
cessor,  his  brother  Ferdinand,  began 
the  bloody  work  of  persecution  in  the 
hereditary  states  of  Austria  immediate- 
ly after  the  congress  of  the  league  at 
Ratisbon.  At  Passau  in  Bavaria,  and 
at  Buda  in  Hungary,  the  fagots  were 
lighted.  The  dukes  of  Bavaria  followed 
the  same  impulse. 

Meanwhile,   began    at   Wittemberg 


94  Martin  Luther, 

the  unhappy  dispute  about  the  mode  in 
which  the  consecration  affected  the  ele- 
ments in  the  celebration  of  the  commu- 
nion enjoined  by  Christ.  Luther  as  yet 
f  lad  not  taken  up  that  doctrinal  scholastic 
opinion,  which  afterwards  produced  the 
fatal  schism.  In  opposing  Carlstadt'a 
view,  he  combated  not  so  much  the  later 
Swiss  exposition  as  Carlstadt's  false  in- 
terpretation of  the  words,  "  This  is  my 
body,"  which  was,  that  Christ,  in  pro- 
nouncing them,  had  pointed  to  his  own 
body,  which  soon  would  die.  He  ad- 
mitted soon  afterwards,  in  reference  to 
that  exposition,  in  1520,  that  he  was 
very  near  thinking  the  Swiss  interpre- 
tation the  reasonable  view  of  the  case, 
but  that  he  had  rejected  the  notion  as 
a  "  temptation,"  the  words  of  the  text 
seeming  to  him  not  to  allow  of  that  in- 
terpretation. 

But  in  the  same  manner  as  this  dis- 
pute was  a  prelude  t:>  the  fatal  sacra- 


Martin  Luther.  95 

mental  disputes  with  Zwingle  and  Cal 
rin,  Luther's  defeat  in  the  attempt  tc 
detach  the  congregation  of  a  small  town 
(Orlamunde  near  Jena,)  from  Carlstadt, 
who  introduced  iconoclastic  and  violent 
proceedings,  proved  an  index  of  the 
critical  state  of  public  feeling.  Luther 
felt  the  urgent  necessity  of  applying 
the  principles  of  the  gospel  to  Chris- 
tian worship  and  to  the  constitutions 
of  the  Church.  But,  on  the  first  point, 
he  wished  changes  to  be  introduced 
gradually,  and  rather  as  a  purifica- 
tion of  the  existing  forms,  than  by  an 
abrogation.  While  as  to  the  second, 
he  felt  that  it  was  not  his  immediate 
vocation,  and  he  thought  he  must  leave 
t-,he  work  to  the  princes,  and  content 
himself  with  preaching  to  them  the 
leading  evangelical  principles.  This, 
of  course,  was  not  the  view  of  the  real 
iriends  of  the  Reformation,  nor  was  it 
consistent  with  Luther's  usual  profound 


96  Martin  Lutfier . 

sagacity,  but  must  be  regarded  as  a 
remnant  of  the  effect  produced  by  bis 
monkish  scholastic  education  brought 
into  accordance  with  Christianity.  His 
more  practical,  and  perhaps  impatiert 
friends  wanted  to  see  the  pagan  condi- 
tion of  the  world,  with  its  social  rela- 
tions, changed  into  a  Christian  state  of 
things,  as  an  earnest  and  pledge  of  the 
reality  of  the  gospel  preaching.  Still, 
for  some  time  longer,  Luther  and  the 
popular  feeling  marched  peaceably  to- 
gether, and  he  remained  the  national 
as  well  as  the  theological  leader.  It 
was  at  this  time  that  he  directed  a  pow- 
erful address  to  the  municipal  councils 
of  the  German  towns,  in  order  to  ex- 
hort them  to  establish  everywhere 
Christian  schools,  as  well  elementary 
as  learned.  "  Oh,  my  dear  Germans," 
he  exclaims,  "  the  divine  word  is  now 
in  abundance  offered  to  you.  God 
knocks  at  your  door ;  open  it  to  him  . 


mh 


Martin  Luther,  97 

Forget  not  the  poor  youth.  Look  how 
the  ancient  Jewish,  Greek,  and  Roman 
world  lost  the  word  of  God,  and  perish- 
ed. The  strength  of  a  town  does  not 
consist  in  its  towers  and  buildings,  but 
in  counting  a  great  number  of  learned, 
serious,  honest,  well-educated  citizens. 
Do  not  fancy  Hebrew  and  Greek  to  be 
unnecessary.  These  languages  are  the 
sheath  which  covers  the  sword  of  the 
Spirit.  The  ignorance  of  the  original 
Scriptures  was  an  impediment  to  the 
progress  of  the  Waldenses,  whose  doc- 
trine is  perfectly  pure.  How  could  I 
have  combated  and  overthrown  pope 
and  sophists,  even  having  the  true  faith, 
if  I  had  not  possessed  the  languages  ? 
You  must  found  libraries  for  learned 
books,  —  not  only  the  fathers,  but  also 
the  pagan  writers,  the  fine  arts,  law, 
history,  medicine,  must  be  represented 
in  such  collections."  These  expressions 
prove  that   from  the  very  beginning 


98  Ma  rtin  Zv  I  her. 


and  in  the  very  person  of  Luther,  the 
Reformation  was  .connected  with  schol- 
arship,—  with  philology  in  its  most 
extended  sense,  and  equally  with  the 
highest  aspiration*  of  the  fine  arts. 

Here  we  must  conclude  this  first 
glorious  period  of  Luther's  life,  which, 
taken  altogether,  has  no  parallel  since 
the  days  of  the  apostle  Paul.  But  the 
problem  to  be  solved  was  not  to  be 
solved  by  Luther  and  by  Germany: 
the  progressive,  vital  element  of  refor- 
mation passed  from  Germany  to  Swit- 
zerland, and  through  Switzerland  to 
France,  Holland,  England  and  Scotland. 
Before  he  descended  into  the  grave  and 
Germany  into  thraldom,  Luther  saved 
(as  much  as  was  in  him)  his  country 
and  the  world,  by  maintaining  the  fun 
damental  principles  of  the  Reformation 
against  Melancthon's  pusillanimity: 
but  three  Protestant  princes  and  the 
free  cities  were  the  leaders ;  the  confe* 


Martin  Luther,  99 

Bion  was  the  work  of  Melancthon.  out 
the  deed  of  the  laity  of  the  nation.  Thr 
German  Reformation  was  made  by  & 
scholastically  trained  monk,  seconded 
by  professors;  the  Swiss  Reformation 
was  the  work  of  a  free  citizen,  an  honest 
Christian,  trained  by  the  classics  of  an 
tiqnity,  and  nursed  in  true,  hard-won 
civil  liberty.  That  was  the  providential 
saving  of  the  world.  Luther's  work 
was  continued,  preserved,  advanced  by 
the  work  of  the  Swiss  and  French  Re- 
formers. The  monk  and  the  Semitic 
element  began;  the  citizens  and  the 
Japhetic  element  finished.  If  the  one 
destroyed  Judaism,  the  other  converted 
paganism,  then  most  powerful,  both  as 
idolatry  and  as  irreligious  learning. 
But  as  long  as  Luther  lived  he  did  not 
lose  his  supremacy,  and  he  deserved  to 
keep  it.  His  mind  was  universal,  and 
therefore  catholic  in  the  proper  sense 
of  the  word. 


100          Martin  Luther. 

Third  Period  : — Luther's  Life  from 
1525  to  1546;  or  the  Period  of  Stag- 
nation. 

The  first  year  after  Luther's  return  to 
Wittemberg  was  a  glorious  period :  the 
true  halcyon  days  of  the  Reform  and 
of  Luther's  personal  history.  In  the 
second  period  of  his  life,  the  epic  was 
changed  into  tragedy;  for  the  Anabap- 
tist tumult  arose,  and  the  war  of  the 
peasants  broke  out  in  the  Black  Forest 
in  July,  1524. 

The  Anabaptist  movement  of  Thomas 
Munzer  was  the  movement  of  Carlstadt 
mixed  up  with  wild  enthusiasm,  igno- 
rance, rebellion,  and  imposture.  Lu- 
ther's doctrinal  opposition  to  it  was 
constant  and  consistent ;  but  it  would 
have  been  more  effectual  if  Luther  had 
not  involved  himself  as  a  schoolman  in 
an  indissoluble  difficulty.  He  was  safe 
in  defending  paedo-baptism ;  but  that 


Martin  Luther.         Ill 

could  be  done  without  ascribing  to  it 
the  power  of  individual  regeneration; 
«*n  opinion  from  which  the  greatest  part 
of  Christendom  has  most  decisively  de- 
clared its  dissent  all  over  the  globe.  He 
was  equally  justified  in  maintaining  the 
word  of  the  gospel :  "  "Whoever  believes, 
and  is  baptized,  shall  be  saved ; "  but 
he  ought  not  to  have  forgotten  that  this 
is  a  juxtaposition  of  two  things,  of  which 
the  one  can  only  be  of  value  as  a  conse- 
quence of  the  first.  This  brings  the 
question  back  to  a  solemn  profession 
and  vow  before  the  Christian  congre- 
gation of  him  who,  having  been  in- 
structed in  Christ's  saving  faith,  finds 
himself  ready  and  compelled  to  make 
that  solemn  promise,  which  St.  Peter 
calls  (1st  Peter,  iii.  21,) — "  the  promise 
(or  vow)  of  a  good  conscience."  Mun- 
zer  and  all  the  other  so-called  apostles 
of  the  Spirit,  attacked  Luther  as  a  mere 
worldly  man  who  had  sold  himself  to 


102  Martin  Luther. 

the  princes.  They  abolished  chaunting 
and  all  ceremonies,  and  committed  acts 
of  violence  against  churches  and  con- 
vents. Luther  said  to  Munzcr, — "  The 
spirit  who  moves  thee  must  be  an  evil 
one,  for  it  brings  forth  nothing  but 
pillage  of  convents  and  churches ;  the 
greatest  robbers  on  the  earth  could  do 
no  more."  "WTiile  combating  them  by 
preaching  and  writing,  he  advised,  how- 
ever, the  elector  to  let  them  preach 
freely.  "  The  word  of  God  itself  must 
come  forward  and  contend  with  them. 
If  their  spirit  is  the  true  one,  Munzer 
will  fear  our  constraint ;  if  ours  is  the 
true  one,  he  will  not  fear  their  violence. 
Let  the  spirits  meet  with  all  might,  and 
fight  each  other.  Perhaps  some  will 
be  seduced;  well,  there  is  no  battle 
without  wounds;  but  he  that  fighta 
faithfully  will  be  crowned.  But  if  they 
ha^e  recourse  to  the  sword,  then  defend 


Martin  Luther.         103 

your  own  subjects,  and  order  the  Ana 
baptists  to  leave  the  country." 

It  was  indeed  a  wonderful  faith  that 
produced  such  toleration  in  these  times, 
and  it  had  a  wonderful  result;  —  the 
elector's  states  remained  undisturbed. 
Munzer  fled  into  Switzerland. 

It  was  otherwise  with  the  war  of  the 
peasants.  "We  have  already  observed 
that  the  Reformation  did  not  originate 
the  rebellion  of  the  peasants,  but  found 
it  prepared.  The  first  coalitions  of  the 
peasants  against  the  intolerable  ra- 
pacity and  cruelty  of  the  feudal  aris- 
tocracy had  begun  before  the  close  of 
the  fifteenth  century ;  then  they  broke 
out  along  the  Upper  Rhine,  in  Alsace, 
and  the  palatinate,  in  1503;  conse- 
quently eighteen  years  before  the  be- 
ginning of  Luther's  Reformation.  No 
aoubt  Luther's  preaching,  in  the  spirit 
df  the  gospel,  against  all  the  revolting 
injustice  and  oppression  of  the  con 


104         Martin  Luther. 

science  of  Christian  men,  had  kept  back 
that  movement  for  a  time ;  but  Munzei 
carried  the  spirit  of  rebellion  and  fanat- 
icism among  the  peasants  and  part  oi 
the  citizens  of  the  countries  of  the  Upper 
Rhine.  The  fact  was,  that  all  the  op- 
pressed inclined  towards  Luther,  and 
the  oppressors,  most  of  whom  were  the 
sovereigns,  bishops,  and  abbots,  toward* 
the  pope.  The  struggle  which  now 
began  was  therefore  between  the  re- 
forming and  the  papist  party,  and  it 
was  easily  to  be  foreseen  that  Luther 
would  soon  be  dragged  into  it.  Indeed, 
the  revolutionary  movement,  was  alrea- 
dy, in  January,  1525,  extending  from 
the  Black  Forest  to  Thuringia  and  Sax- 
ony, the  very  heart  of  Luther's  sphere 
of  action.  The  peasants  had  proclaimed 
twelve  articles,  of  half  biblical  half  po- 
litical character.  In  the  introduction 
to  these  articles  they  protest  against  tho 
imputation  of  wanting  anything  but 


Martin  Luther.  105 

the  gospel  applied  to  the  social  body. 
They  declare  their  desire  to  uphold  it* 
injunctions — peace,  patience,  and  union 
There  is  no  doubt  that  many  of  them 
were  sincere  in  their  professions.  At 
all  events,  neither  the  gospel  nor  its 
true  preachers  and  followers  were  the 
revolutionists,  but  the  wild,  selfish, 
passionate  enthusiasts  among  them  and 
their  leaders.  Like  the  Puritans  in  the 
following  century,  the  peasants  say  they 
raise  their  voice  to  God  who  saved  the 
people  of  Israel ;  and  they  believe  that 
God  can  save  them  as  well  from  their 
powerful  oppressors  as  he  did  the  Israel- 
ites from  the  hand  of  Pharaoh. 

As  to  what  they  demanded  in  their 
twelve  articles,  all  impartial  historians 
declare  that  on  the  whole  their  demands 
were  just ;  and  all  of  them  are  now  the 
law  of  Germany.  As  to  the  influence 
of  the  Reformation,  the  very  words  of 
Scripture  brought  forward  this  time  by 


106         Martin  Luther. 

the  peasants,  prove  clearly  that  Luther's 
preaching  of  the  gospel  and  of  truth 
had  not  acted  upon  the  movement  as 
an  incentive  but  as  a  corrective.  It  was 
Luther  himself  who  now,  in  the  critical 
moment,  brought  the  Word  of  God  to 
6peak  out  against  the  insurrection,  as  be- 
ing in  itself  an  act  of  unchristian  self-de- 
fence, although  he  acknowledged  their 
case  to  be  very  hard,  and  their  cause,  on 
the  whole,  a  j  ust  one.  Luther's  position 
was  grand ;  he  spoke  as  the  arbiter  be- 
tween lord  and  peasant;  in  the  name 
of  Christ  exhorting  both  parties  to 
peace,  and  as  a  good  citizen  and  patriot 
giving  them  advice  equally  practical 
and  Christian.  He  first  speaks  thus  in 
substance  to  the  lords : — "  I  might  now 
make  common  cause  with  the  peasants 
against  you,  who  impute  this  insurrec- 
tion to  the  gospel  and  to  my  teaching  • 
whereas  I  have  never  ceased  to  enjoin 
•bedience  to  authority,  even  to  one  m 


DM 


Martin  Luther.  107 


tyrannical  and  intolerable  as  yours. 
But  I  will  not  envenom  the  wound; 
therefore,  my  lords,  whether  friendly 
or  hostile  to  me,  do  not  despise  either 
the  advice  of  a  poor  man,  or  this  sedi- 
tion ;  not  that  you  ought  to  fear  the  in- 
surgents, but  fear  God  the  Lord,  who 
is  incensed  against  you.  He  may  pun- 
ish you  and  turn  every  stone  into  a 
peasant,  and  then  neither  your  cuirasses 
nor  your  strength  would  save  you.  Put 
then  bounds  to  your  exactions,  —  pause 
in  your  hard  tyranny, — consider  them 
as  intoxicated,  —  and  treat  them  with 
kindness,  that  God  may  not  kindle  a 
fire  throughout  Germany  which  none 
will  be  able  to  extinguish.  What  you 
may  perhaps  lose  will  be  made  good  to 
you  a  hundredfold  by  peace.  Some  of 
the  twelve  articles  of  the  peasants  are 
60  equitable  that  they  dishonor  you 
before  God  and  the  world ;  they  cover 
the  princes  with  shame,  as  the  109th 


208  Martin  Luther. 

Psalm  says.  I  should  have  yet  grave; 
things  to  tell  you  respecting  the  gov 
ernment  of  Germany,  and  I  have  ad- 
dressed you  in  this  cause  in  my  book 
to  the  German  nobility.  But  you  have 
considered  my  words  as  wind,  and  there- 
fore all  these  demands  come  now  upon 
you.  You  must  not  refuse  their  demand 
as  to  choosing  pastors  who  preach  to 
them  the  gospel ;  the  government  has 
only  to  see  that  insurrection  and  rebel- 
lion be  not  preached;  but  there  must 
be  perfect  liberty  to  preach  the  true 
gospel  as  well  as  the  false.  The  remain 
ing  articles,  which  regard  the  social 
state  of  the  peasant,  are  equally  just. 
Government  is  not  established  for  its 
own  interest,  nor  to  make  the  people 
subservient  to  caprice  and  evil  passions, 
but  for  the  interest  of  the  people.  Your 
exactions  are  intolerable;  you  tako 
away  from  the  peasant  the  fruit  of  his 
abor,  in  order  to  spend  his  money  upon 


Martin  Luther.  109 

your  finery  and  luxury.     So  much  for 
you." 

"  Now,  as  regards  you,  my  dear 
friends,  the  peasants.  You  want  the 
free  preaching  of  the  gospel  to  be  se- 
cured to  you.  God  will  assist  your  just 
cause  if  you  follow  up  your  work  with 
conscience  and  justice.  In  that  case 
you  are  sure  to  triumph  in  the  end. 
Those  of  you  who  may  fall  in  the  strug- 
gle will  be  saved.  But  if  you  act  other- 
wise you  are  lost,  soul  and  body,  even 
if  you  have  success,  and  defeat  the 
princes  and  lords.  Do  not  believe  the 
false  prophets  who  have  come  among 
you,  even  if  they  invoke  the  holy  name 
of  the  gospel.  They  will  call  me  a 
hypocrite,  but  I  do  not  mind  that.  I 
wish  to  save  the  pious  and  honest  men 
among  you.  I  fear  God  and  none  else. 
Do  you  fear  Him  also,  and  use  not  His 
name  in  vain,  that  He  may  not  punish 

you.     Does  not  the  word  of  God  say ; 
10 


110  Martin  Luther. 

1  He  who  takes  up  the  sword,  shall  per- 
ish by  the  sword :'  and  '  Let  every  soul 
be  subject  to  the  "higher  powers.'  You 
must  not  take  justice  into  your  own 
hands ;  that  is  also  the  prescription  of 
the  natural  law.  Do  you  not  see  that 
you  put  yourself  in  the  wrong  by  rebel- 
lion ?  The  government  takes  away  part 
of  what  is  yours,  but  you  take  away  all 
in  destroying  principle.  Fix  your  eye 
on  Christ  at  Gethsemane  rebuking  St. 
Peter  for  using  the  sword  although  in 
defence  of  his  Master,  and  on  Christ  on 
the  cross  praying  for  his  persecutors. 
And  has  not  his  kingdom  triumphed  ? 
Why  have  pope  and  emperor  not  been 
able  to  put  me  down  ?  Why  has  the 
gospel  spread  the  more  the  greater  the 
effort  they  made  to  hinder  and  destroy 
it  ?  Because  I  have  never  had  recourse 
to  force,  but  preached  obedience  even 
towards  those  who  persecuted  me,  de« 
pending  exclusively  on  God.  But  what 


Martin  Luther.  Ill 

ever  you  do,  do  not  try  to  cover  your 
enterprise  by  the  cloak  of  the  gospeJ 
and  the  name  of  Christ.  If  war  there 
must  be,  it  will  be  a  war  of  pagans,  for 
Christians  use  other  weapons;  their 
general  suffered  the  cross,  and  their 
triumph  is  humility:  that  is  their  chiv- 
alry. Pray,  my  dear  friends,  stop  and 
consider  before  you  proceed  further. 
Your  quotations  from  the  Bible  do  not 
prove  your  case." 

After  having  thus  spoken  out  boldly 
and  fearlessly  to  each  party,  Luther  con- 
cludes with  a  touching  expostulation  to 
both.  The  substance  of  his  address  is  in 
these  words : — "  You  see  you  are  both  in 
the  wrong,  and  are  drawing  the  divine 
punishments  upon  you  and  upon  your 
common  country,  Germany.  My  ad- 
vice would  be  that  arbitrators  should 
oe  chosen,  some  from  the  nobility,  and 
some  from  the  towns.  You  both  have 
to  give  up  something:  let  the  ma1> 


112  Martin  Luther. 

ter   be    settled   equitably   by  human 
law." 

This  certainly  was  the  voice  of  the 
true  prophet  of  the  age,  if  ever  there 
was  any.  It  was  not  heard.  The  lords 
showed  little  disposition  towards  con- 
cessions, and  what  they  did  offer  came 
too  late,  when  the  bloody  struggle  had 
already  begun.  The  peasants,  excited 
by  Munzer,  exceeded,  on  their  side,  ail 
bounds,  and  Luther  felt  himself  obliged, 
when  the  stream  of  rebellion  and  de- 
struction rolled  on  to  Thuringia  and 
Saxony,  to  speak  out  most  strongly 
against  them.  The  princes  leagued  to- 
gether (for  the  empire,  of  course,  did 
nothing,  Charles  having  full  employ- 
ment in  Spain,)  and  the  peasants  were 
routed  everywhere.  Fifty  thousand 
of  their  party  were  slain  or  butchered 
by  wholesale  executions.  Among  thig 
number  there  were  many  of  the  quiet* 
est   and  most  moderate  people  made 


Martin  Luther.         113 

victims  in  the  general  slaughter,  be- 
cause they  were  known  or  suspected  to 
be  friends  of  the  Keformation  and  of 
Luther,  which,  indeed  all  the  citizens 
and  peasants  of  Germany  were  at  that 
time. 

None  felt  more  deeply  this  misery, 
and  what  it  involved  in  its  effects  on  the 
cause  of  the  gospel  in  Germany;  and 
he  never  recovered  the  shock.  He 
thus  unburdens  his  soul  at  the  close  of 
this  fatal  year,  which  crushed  for  cen- 
turies the  rights  and  hopes  of  the 
peasants  and  laborers,  and  weakened  the 
towns  and  cities,  the  seats  of  all  that 
was  best  in  the  national  life: — "The 
spirit  of  these  tyrants  is  powerless — 
cowardly — estranged  from  every  honest 
Ihought.  They  deserve  to  be  the  slaves 
of  the  people.  But  by  the  grace  of 
Christ  I  am  sufficiently  revenged  by 
the  contempt  I  have  for  them,  and 
for  Satan  their  God."    And  in  the  next 

10* 


114         Martin  Luther. 

year  he  said,  "  I  fear  Germany  is  lost  j 
it  cannot  be  otherwise,  for  they  will 
employ  nothing  but  the  sword." 

In  all  this  Luther  stands  higher  than 
ever,  but  as  a  sufferer.  He  sees  the 
work  in  Germany  is  lost  for  this  time. 
He  submits,  and  is  supported  by  hia 
faith.  So  he  is  consoled  when  he  sees 
how  Ferdinand  of  Austria  and  the 
Duke  of  Bavaria  imprison  and  slaugh- 
ter Christians  on  account  of  the  gospel, 
and  that  not  only  the  pope  and  the  em- 
peror  are  leagued  together  against  the 
Reformation,  but  also  the  king  of 
France,  besides  the  king  of  England. 
All  the  powers  of  the  world  are  against 
him  :  Germany  is  doomed  to  perish,  but 
the  word  and  the  work  of  God  cannot 
perish.  Even  the  sad  results  of  a  gen- 
eral visitation  of  the  churches  which  he 
undertook  throughout  the  states  of  the 
elector  did  not  shake  his  faith.  Ho 
sees  how  ignorant  and  savage  all  these 


Martin  Luther .  115 

wars  and  revolts  have  rendered  even 
the  Protestant  congregations;  but  he 
says  the  Spirit  of  God  will  not  forsake 
them.  The  elector  Frederic,  Luther's 
timid  but  honest  supporter,  had  de- 
scended into  the  tomb  on  the  5th  May, 
1525,  confessing  on  his  death-bed  his 
firm  belief  in  Christ  as  his  only  Saviour. 
His  successor,  John,  known  by  the 
well-deserved  name,  John  the  Constant, 
followed  in  his  footsteps,  and  was  a  firm 
friend  to  Luther. 

But  the  Romish  league  also  gained 
friends  in  the  north  of  Germany.  Duke 
George  of  Saxony  had,  in  July  of  this 
year,  concluded  at  Dessau  an  alliance 
against  the  Reformation  with  Albert 
of  Brandenburg,  archbishop  of  Mainz 
and  Magdeburg,  and  with  the  Dukes  of 
Brunswick,  and  proved  himself  in  ear- 
nest by  causing  two  citizens  of  Leipzig 
to  be  beheaded  for  having  the  writings 
&f  Luther  in  their  houses.  At  the  same 


116  Martin  Luther, 

time,  Charles  declared  from  Spain  hif 
intention  to  hold  a  diet  at  Augsburg, 
evidently  in  order  to  crush  the  Refor- 
mation by  means  of  the  Catholic  league 
acting  in  the  name  of  the  empire.  His 
victory  at  Pavia  made  him  more  than 
ever  the  master  of  Germany.  Finally, 
the  remains  of  the  party  of  Munzer, 
declared  they  would  take  the  life  of 
Luther  as  a  traitor. 

It  was  under  such  auspices  that  Lu- 
ther decided  at  last  to  take  a  wife,  as 
he  had  long  advised  his  friends  among 
the  priests  and  monks  to  do.  They  had 
often  reminded  him  of  his  profession, 
and  of  the  duty  of  himself  setting  an 
example  to  prove  his  sincerity.  His 
father  himself  urged  him  continually 
to  marry.  All  around  him  was  now  in 
&  stationary,  if  not  a  retrograde  state. 
The  university  of  Wittemberg  had  suf- 
fered much  during  the  late  troubles, 
and  it  was  generally  believed  that  \h% 


i 


Martin  Luther.         117 

Hew  elector  did  not  mean  to  support  it. 
Luther's  warm  and  loving  heart  opened 
the  more  readily  to  the  contemplation  of 
matrimonial  union  with  Catherina  von 
Bora,  a  lady  twenty-four  years  of  age, 
of  a  noble  Saxon  family,  in  1523,  who 
had  left  her  convent,  together  with  eight 
other  sisters,  in  order  to  worship  Christ 
without  the  oppression  of  endless  cere- 
monies, which  gave  neither  light  to  the 
mind  nor  peace  to  the  soul.  Since  that 
time  they  had  lived  together  in  utter 
retirement,  forming  a  free  Christian 
community.  Pious  citizens  at  Torgau 
were  their  protectors,  and  by  them  they 
were  presented  to  Luther  in  the  convent 
of  the  Augustinians.  Soon  followed, 
as  we  have  seen,  the  great  regenerative 
movement  of  the  Christian  worship; 
and  Luther  appeared,  on  the  9th  Octo- 
ber, 1524,  before  the  congregation  in 
the  simple  habit  of  a  secular  priest 
Luther  soon  remained  alone  in  the  con 


118  Martin  Luther, 

vent ;  all  the  monks  had  left  it.  At  the 
end  of  the  year  he  sent  the  key  to  the 
elector,  who,  however,  desired  him  to 
continue  to  inhabit  it.  In  the  mean 
time,  Luther  had  observed  and  wit- 
nessed the  Christian  faith  and  life  of 
Catherina  von  Bora,  and  on  the  11th 
of  June  he  married  her,  in  the  presence 
of  Lucas  Cranach,  the  celebrated  paint- 
er, and  of  another  friend,  as  witnesses. 
Catherina  von  Bora  had  no  dowry,  and 
Luther  lived  on  his  appointment  as  pro- 
fessor ;  he  would  never  take  money  for 
any  of  his  books,  but  only  some  copiea 
for  presents.  His  marriage  was  a  happy 
one,  and  was  blessed  with  six  children. 
Luther  was  a  tender  husband  and  the 
most  loving  of  fathers. 

The  princes  who  were  friendly  to  the 
Reformation  gradually  gained  more 
courage ;  the  Elector  John  of  Saxony 
established  a  principle  in  his  states  that 
all  rites  should  be  abrogated  which 


.wtf.fl 


Martin  Luther.         119 

«       — — ■ ■"— ~ ~ "~ ~ — ~~m 

were  contrary  to  the  Scriptures,  and 
that  the  masses  for  the  dead  be  abolish- 
ed at  once.  The  young  Landgrave 
Philippe  of  Hesse  gained  over  the  son 
of  the  furious  Duke  George  to  the  cause 
of  the  Keformation.  Albert,  Duke  of 
Prussia,  had  established  it  at  Konigs- 
berg,  as  hereditary  duke,  abolishing  the 
tows  of  the  Order,  whose  master  ho 
had  been,  saying : — "  There  is  only  one 
Order,  and  that  is  Christendom."  At 
the  request  of  the  pope,  Charles  placed 
Albert  under  interdict  as  an  apostate 
monk.  The  evangelical  princes  found 
in  all  these  circumstances  a  still  stronger 
motive  to  act  at  Augsburg  as  allies  in 
the  cause  of  the  evangelical  party ;  and 
when  the  diet  opened  in  December, 
1525,  they  spoke  out  boldly: — "It  is 
\iolence  which  brought  on  the  war  of 
the  peasants.  If  you  will  by  violence 
tear  the  truth  of  God  out  of  the  hearts  of 
those  who  believe,  you  will  draw  greater 


120         Martin  Luther, 

dangers  and  evils  upon  you."  The  Ro- 
manist party  was  startled.  "  The  cause 
of  the  holy  faith  "  'was  adjourned  to  the 
next  diet  at  Spires.  The  landgrave  and 
the  elector  made  a  formal  alliance  in 
February,  1526,  at  Torgau. 

Luther  being  consulted  as  to  his 
opinion,  felt  helpless.  "  You  have  no 
faith ;  you  put  not  your  trust  in  God ; 
leave  all  to  him."  The  landgrave,  the 
real  head  of  the  evangelical  alliance, 
perceived  that  Luther's  advice  was  not 
practical — that  Luther  forsook  the  duty 
of  self-defence  and  the  obligation  to  do 
one's  duty  according  to  the  dictates  of 
reason,  in  religious  matters  as  well  as 
in  other  political  questions.  But  the 
alliance  found  no  new  friends.  Ger- 
many showed  all  her  misery  by  the 
meanness  of  her  princes  and  the  absence 
of  any  great  national  body  to  oppose 
the  league  formed  by  the  pope,  the  em 
peror,  and  the  Romanists,  throughout 


Martin  Luther,         121 

Europe.  The  archbishop  of  Treves  pre- 
ferred a  pension  from  Charles  to  the 
defence  of  the  national  canse.  The 
evangelically-disposed  palatine  desired 
to  avoid  getting  into  trouble  on  that 
account.  The  imperial  city  of  Frank- 
fort, thus  surrounded  by  open  enemies 
and  timid  friends,  declined  to  accede  to 
the  alliance.  There  was  more  nationa. 
feeling  and  courage  in  the  Anglo-Sax- 
on north  of  Germany.  The  princes  of 
Brunswick,  Luxemburg,  Mecklenburg, 
Anhalt,  and  Mansfeld,  assembled  at 
Magdeburg,  and  made  a  solemn  and 
heroic  declaration  of  their  resolution  to 
pledge  their  "  estates,  lives,  states,  and 
subjects,  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
holy  word  of  God,  relying  on  Almighty 
God,  as  whose  instrument  they  would 
act."  The  town  of  Magdeburg  (which 
then  had  about  three  times  as  many  in- 
habitants as  now)  and  Duke  Albert  of 

Prussia  adhered  to  the  alliance     The 
11 


122         Martin  Luther. 

league  doubled  its  efforts.  Charles, 
strong  and  rendered  safe  by  the  peace 
of  Madrid  concluded  with  Francis,  sent 
word  from  Seville  in  March,  1526, 
through  the  Romish  Duke  Henry  of 
Brunswick,  that  he  would  soon  come 
himself  to  crush  the  heresy.  Luther 
saw  the  dangers  crowding  around  him: 
his  advice  was,  —  "  "We  are  threatened 
with  war ;  let  us  force  our  enemies  to 
keep  the  peace,  conquered  by  the  Spirit 
of  God,  before  whose  throne  we  must 
now  combat  with  the  arms  of  prayer ; 
that  is  the  first  work  to  be  done." 

Towards  the  end  of  1525,  Luther  had 
resolved  to  answer  a  book  which  had 
been  written  against  him  in  the  previ- 
ous autumn  by  Erasmus,  under  the 
catching  title  *  On  Free  Will."  Eras- 
mus was  in  his  heart  rather  a  skeptic : 
he  would  in  his  earlier  days  have  pro 
fessed  openly  the  cause  of  the  gospel, 
and  defended  it  with  his  superior  eru 


Martin  Luther.  123 

dition  and  knowledge,  had  lie  believed 
in  its  success ;  but  neither  the  Swiss  nor 
the  German  Reformation  gave  him  that 
certainty,  and  thus,  at  last,  he  gave  way 
to  King  Henry  and  others,  who  urged 
him  to  attack  Luther.  No  controversy 
has  been  less  generally  understood  than 
this ;  but  it  may  also  be  said  that  it 
might  have  been  carried  on  not  only 
with  less  malice  by  Erasmus,  but  also 
with  more  speculative  skill  by  Luther. 
The  antagonism  is  essentially  the  same 
as  that  of  Augustine  and  Pelagius,  or 
that  between  the  Jansenists  and  Jesuits ; 
a  better  speculative  method  and  a  deep- 
er philosophy  of  the  mind  have  since 
shown  how  the  scholastic  method  never 
could  solve  that  most  important  as  well 
as  most  difficult  problem.  We  have 
no  hesitation  in  saying  that  the  result 
of  dialectic  metaphysics  is  no  other  than 
that  Luther  was  perfectly  right  and 
Erasmus  totally  wrong,  in  this  dispute ; 


y 


124          Martin  Lu titer. 

but  it  was  hopeless  from  the  beginning 
Erasmus  defined  free  will  as  the  faculty 
of  man  to  decide  for  himself,  be  it  for 
good  or  evil.  Consequently  to  deny 
his  thesis  in  this  sense  would  have  been 
to  deny  the  moral  responsibility  of  man. 
But  Luther's  ideas  respecting  moral 
free  will  were  as  dissonant  from  this 
terminology  as  St.  Paul's  reasoning  on 
faith,  from  the  use  of  that  word  in  the 
sense  in  which  St.  James  employs  or 
rather  attacks  it.  In  regard  to  Luther's 
terms  and  fundamental  ideas,  we  have 
touched  upon  them  in  speaking  of  the 
influence  of  Tauler  and  of  the  Theologia 
Germanica  upon  his  mind,  when  he 
was  disturbed  by  what  appeared  to  him 
the  dreadful  consequences  of  the  doc- 
trine of  grace  and  election.  The  the- 
ology of  the  German  school  of  the  four- 
teenth century  rested  upon  a  simpler 
because  a  deeper  basis  than  that  of  Au 
Justine,  and,  more  lately,   of  CalviD 


Martin  Luther.         125 

»  . 

and  Pascal.  There  is  in  man,  as  a  crea- 
ture, the  power  of  self-will ;  this  is  not 
only  evil  as  such,  but  the  root  of  all  evil, 
and  sin.  The  power  of  deciding  whe- 
ther or  not  to  commit  an  action  is 
therefore  nothing  but  the  power  of  mea 
during  and  contrasting  selfish  principles, 
neither  of  which  being  good,  can  pro- 
duce good  actions.  There  is  no  power 
against  this  selfishness  of  the  creature 
but  the  divine  principle.  This,  the  old 
German  school  maintained,  is  equally 
an  inherent  element  in  man, — not  as  a 
creature,  but  as  God's  image, — and  the 
instrument  of  the  infinite,  divine  Spirit, 
which  is  essentially  goodness,  and  love 
of  what  is  good  and  true  as  such,  apart 
from  any  reference  to  ourselves.  To 
follow  up  this  view  successfully,  it  is 
evidently  necessary  not  to  establish  an 
absolute  separation  between  the  divine 
principle  in  itself  (in  God,  the  infinite) 
%nd  in  man/  and  this  was  not  clearly 


126         Martin  Luther. 

understood  by  Augustine  (whose  influ- 
ence upon  Luther  was  paramount,  in 
consequence  of  his  earliest  impressions,) 
and  still  less  skillfully  used  by  Luther. 
The  absurdities  to  which,  as  each  of  the 
combatants  proved  of  his  opponent,  the 
consistent  following  up  of  an  antago- 
nistic principle  conducts,  are  shown  by 
Kant  to  be  the  necessary  organic  con- 
sequence of  our  reasoning  with  finite 
notions  upon  the  infinite ;  his  antinomies 
of  free  will  and  necessity  are  those  of 
Erasmus  and  Luther,  divested  of  theo- 
logical and  dogmatic  terms.  But  the 
same  philosophy  (and  Kant  himself  in 
his  Moral  Philosophy r,  and  his  Philos- 
ophy of  Religion^)  shows  that  Christi- 
anity and  the  analysis  of  conscience 
and  moral  consciousness  of  ourselves 
teach  equally  what  Luther  maintained 
against  Erasmus.  The  rationalism  of 
Erasmus  and  the  Jesuits  is  condemned 
by  this  philosophy ;  and  whatever  may 


Martin  Luther.  127 

be  thought  of  the  philosophical  demon- 
stration (which  we  think  capable  of 
great  simplification,)  St.  John  and  St. 
Paul  are  certainly  irreconcilable  with 
it.  "  Erasmus  ignores  God,"  said  Lu- 
ther, "  and  that  word  is  more  powerful 
than  any  scholastic  argument."  Eras- 
mus felt  himself  crushed  by  Luther's 
strong  hits,  against  which  his  eloquence 
availed  him  nothing.  "The  victory 
must  remain,"  Luther  said,  "with  stam- 
mering truth,  not  with  lying  elo- 
quence ;"  and  he  concluded  thus :  "  Who 
ever  possessed  so  much  science  and 
eloquence,  and  such  art  in  speaking 
and  in  writing  ?  I  have  nothing  of  all 
this ;  but  I  glory  in  one  thing — I  am  a 
Christian.  May  God  raise  you  in  the 
knowledge  of  the  gospel  infinitely  above 
me,  so  that  you  may  surpass  me  as  much 
in  this  respect  as  you  do  already  in  all 
others."  Erasmus  henceforth  lost  all 
measure  and  philosophical  equanimity, 


138         Martin  Luther, 

never  having  sought  truth  for  its  own 
pake. 

The  diet  of  Spires,  which  was  to  put 
An  end  to  Luther's  Reformation,  opened 
on  June  25,  1526.  Ferdinand  indeed 
republished,  on  the  3d  of  August,  the 
decree  of  Seville,  enjoining  strict  exe- 
cution of  the  edict  of  Worms ;  but,  in 
the  mean  time,  Clement  the  Vii.  hav- 
ing quarreled  with  Charles,  and  Fer- 
dinand being  called  to  Hungary  in 
order  to  maintain  against  Soliman  and 
other  competitors  the  crowns  of  Hun- 
gary and  Bohemia,  left  to  him  by 
King  Louis  after  the  battle  of  Mohacz, 
Charles  commissioned  the  famous  Cap- 
tain Frundsberg  (the  same  who  had 
good-naturedly  accosted  Luther  at 
Worms,  and  who  was  devoted  to  the 
evangelical  cause)  to  enlist  an  army  in 
Germany  against  the  pope,  and  thou- 
sands hastened  to  join  his  ranks  in  con- 
sequence.    And  thus  the  Reformation 


Martin  Luther.         129 

was  saved  this  time,  and  a  proposition 
presented  by  the  cities  was  accepted, 
"  that  nntil  a  council  met,  every  gover- 
nor should,  within  his  own  states,  act 
according  to  his  conscience."  Within 
a  year,  if  not  a  universal,  at  least  a  na- 
tional council  was  to  meet.  In  conse- 
quence, the  Reformation  had  time  to 
consolidate  itself  from  1526  to  1529. 
The  man  of  Germany  at  that  time 
among  the  princes  was  the  landgrave, 
Philip  of  Hesse,  and  he  was  enlightened 
by  a  citizen.  James  Sturm,  the  deputy 
of  Strasburg  at  the  diet  of  Spires,  had 
convinced  him  that  the  basis  of  the  true 
evangelical  church  was  the  acknowl- 
edgment of  the  self-government  of  the 
church  by  synods  composed  of  repre- 
sentatives of  the  whole  Christian  people. 
Thus  the  first  Protestant  constitution — 
that  agreed  upon  in  Hesse — was  assen- 
tially  that  which  has  proved  since  to  bo 
the  most  universal  and  tne  most  power 


130  Martin  Luther. 

ful.  For  that  constitution  is  neithel 
Lutheran  nor  Anglican,  but  synodal 
Christianity,  which  has  converted  and 
is  now  converting  and  conquering  the 
world.  The  constitution  acknowledged 
the  episcopal  element,  but  not  episcopal 
rule,  —  sovereignty  being  invested  in 
the  people  of  God.  "We  admit  (say  the 
articles)  no  word  but  that  of  our  sove- 
reign pastor.  Bishops  and  deacons  are 
to  be  elected  by  the  Christian  people ; 
bishops  are  to  be  consecrated  by  the 
imposition  of  hands  of  three  bishops ; 
and  deacons  may  be  instituted  by  im- 
position of  the  hands  of  the  elders.  The 
general  synod  is  to  be  held  annually, 
consisting  of  the  pastor  of  each  parish 
and  of  pious  men  elected  from  the  midst 
of  each  church,  or  rather  congregation, 
or  from  single  churches.  Three  men 
are  to  be  elected  yearly  to  exercise  the 
right  of  visitation.  This  was  soon 
found  to  be  an  inconvenient  form ;  su 


Martin,  Luther .  131 

Buperintendents  (episcopi)  for  life  were 
substituted.  This  board  of  superintend- 
ents became  afterwards  an  oligarchy 
and  at  last  a  mere  instrument  of  the 
state — the  consequence  of  the  disruption 
of  Germany  and  the  paralysis  of  all 
national  institutions.  Luther  had  pro- 
fessed already,  in  1523  and  in  1524, 
principles  entirely  identical  with  those 
established  in  1526  in  Hesse.  But  there 
his  action  ceased ;  he  left  to  the  princes 
what  they  had  no  mind  to  carry  out ; 
and  what  could  a  people  do  cut  up  intc 
four  hundred  sovereignties?  Never, 
however,  did  Luther  acknowledge  Ce 
saropapism  or  Erastianism,  as  a  princi- 
ple and  as  a  right.  He  considered  the 
rights  of  the  Christian  people  as  a  sa- 
rred  trust,  provisionally  deposited  in 
the  hands  of  their  representatives. 
"  Where  (he  asked)  are  the  people  to 
form  the  synods  I  I  cannot  find  them." 
This  was  a  political  calamity  or  mistake, 


132         Martin  Luther, 

but  it  was  not  a  treason  to  the  rights 
of  the  Christian  people.  Still  more  did 
Luther  abhor  the  rapacity  of  the  nobil- 
ity and  of  the  courtiers  to  possess  them- 
selves of  the  spoils  of  the  Church.  It 
was  Melancthon's  influence  which  fa- 
cilitated the  despotic  system,  and  ham- 
pered the  thorough  reform  of  the  forms 
of  worship.  Luther  withdrew  from  a 
sphere  which  was  not  his.  He  com- 
posed, in  1529,  the  small  and  great  Cat- 
echisms, of  which  the  former  has  main- 
tained its  place  as  a  guide  of  popular 
doctrine  up  to  this  day ;  but  when  mea- 
sures of  persecution  were  proposed,  he 
raised  his  voice  against  them.  lie 
wrote,  in  1528,  False  Teachers  are  not 
to  he  put  to  Death  /  it  suffices  to  Remaoe 
them.  While  Luther  preached  this  doc- 
trine, the  most  bloody  persecution  went 
on  in  the  estates  of  the  elector  of  Bran- 
denburg (where  the  electress  professed 
courageously  the  principles  of  the  gos» 


Martin  Luther.  135 

pel,)  in  Bavaria,  and  above  all,  in  the 
hereditary  states  of  Austria.  In  Febru- 
ary 1528,  the  impetuous  landgrave  was 
on  the  point  of  committing  a  rash  act,  in 
consequence  of  a  forged  document  which 
had  been  shown  to  him,  purporting  to 
be  a  secret  convention  to  assassinate 
Luther  and  Melancthon,  and  crush  the 
evangelical  princes.  Philip  infected 
the  elector  with  his  apprehensions,  and 
violent  measures  of  persecution  were  to 
be  resorted  to,  when  Luther  and  Me- 
lancthon both  gave,  as  their  solemn  ad- 
vice, this  verdict, — "The  attack  must 
not  come  from  our  side,  and  the  guilt 
of  bloodshedding  must  not  come  upon 
us.  Let  the  emperor  know  of  this  odi- 
ous conspiracy."  The  elector,  however, 
assembled  his  troops ;  but  the  forgery 
was  soon  discovered  when  the  document 
was  communicated  to  the  Romanist 
princes.  The  attitude  taken  by  the 
Vrotestant  princes  had,  however,  the 


134          Martin  Luther, 

effect  of  making  the  archbishop  oi 
Mainz  renounce,  in  1528,  the  spiritual 
jurisdiction  he  had  hitherto  exercised 
over  Saxony  and  Hesse.  But  among 
the  public  at  large,  all  believed  in  the 
existence  of  a  secret  plot  against  the 
evangelical  party. 

Under  these  auspices  was  opened  the 
celebrated  diet  of  Spires  in  1529.  The 
emperor,  who,  in  the  mean  time,  had 
taken  Kome,  and  annihilated  the  ambi- 
tious plans  of  Clement  TIL,  now  took 
again  to  his  natural  part.  German 
credulity  and  good  nature  had  served 
his  turn.  Now  that  he  felt  himself 
master  of  the  field,  he  spoke  as  a  Span- 
ish despot;  the  elector  and  landgrave 
were  forbidden  to  celebrate  divine  wor- 
ship in  their  hotels,  as  they  had  done 
Im  1527,  after  the  use  of  a  church  had 
been  denied  them.  The  imperial  com- 
missioners desired  to  return  to  the  edict 
of  Worms  of  1521.    The  solemn  act  of 


Martin  Luther.  135 

toleration  voted  by  the  diet  of  1527  was 
abrogated  by  an  arbitrary  act  of  the 
emperor  alone,  contrary  to  the  consti- 
tution of  the  empire.  Luther,  the  pro- 
scribed, was  not  present ;  but  Melanc- 
thon,  who  had  accompanied  the  princes, 
reported  to  him  what  passed.  The  ma- 
jority of  the  diet  passed  at  last,  on  7th 
April,  a  resolution,  that  where  the  edict 
of  Worms  could  not  be  executed  with 
out  fear  of  revolution,  no  further  reform 
would  be  allowed.  This  evidently  was 
nothing  but  the  intended  forerunner  of 
the  restoration  of  Popery. 

It  was  against  this  iniquitous  decree 
that  the  elector,  the  landgrave,  the  mar- 
grave of  Brandenburg,  the  prince  of 
Anhalt,  and  the  chancellor  of  Luneburg, 
together  with  the  dignitaries  of  the 
towns,  laid  down  that  solemn  protesta- 
tion from  which  originates  the  name  of 
*  Protestants."  "  The  diet  has  over- 
stepped its  authority,"  they  said  ;  "  our 


136         Martin  Luther. 

acquired  right  is,  that  the  decree  of 
1526,  unanimously  adopted,  do  remain 
in  force  until  a  council  can  be  convened. 
Up  to  this  time  the  decree  has  main- 
tained the  peace  since,  and  we  protest 
against  abrogation."  Of  thirty-five  free 
cities,  fourteen  stood  out  firmly,  when 
Ferdinand  threatened  them  with  the 
loss  of  their  privileges.  Strasburg, 
which  was  at  the  head  of  the  protesting 
cities,  was  placed  by  this  most  arbitrary 
act  under  the  interdict.  To  the  princes 
Ferdinand  declared  there  remained  no- 
thing for  them  but  to  submit ;  and  he 
closed  the  diet  without  awaiting  the 
resolutions  of  the  evangelical  princes, 
who  had  passed,  as  was  the  constitu- 
tional custom,  into  an  adjoining  apart- 
ment in  order  to  deliberate.  The  princes 
then  drew  up  their  declaration,  and 
caused  it  to  be  read  to  the  diet,  which 
had  remained  sitting  when  Ferdinand 
rose  with  the  imperial  commissioners. 


Martin  Luther.  337 

The  celebrated  Protest  of  the  15th 
April,  1529,  is  one  of  the  finest  and  no- 
blest documents  of  Christian  history, 
displaying  an  apostolic  faith  in  Christ 
and  Scripture,  and  a  dignified  adher- 
ence to  national  law  as  far  as  constitu- 
tional liberties  are  concerned.  The 
protesting  princes  and  cities  claim  as 
their  right,  as  Germans,  what  they  con- 
sider a  sacred  duty  as  Christians, — 
freely  to  preach  the  word  of  God  and 
the  message  of  salvation,  that  all  who 
will  hear  it  may  join  the  community 
of  the  believers.  This  great  act  was, 
besides,  an  earnest  of  true  evangelical 
union ;  for  it  was  well  known  that  most 
of  the  cities  inclined  more  towards 
Zwingle's  than  towards  Luther's  view 
pf  the  sacrament.  And  this  union  was 
not  a  negative  but  a  positive  one;  it 
was  founded  on  the  faith,  energetically 
and  sincerely  professed  by  (Ecolampa- 
ilius,  as  the  organ  of  the  Swiss  .Reform- 

12* 


138         Martin  Luther. 

ed  churches,  that,  "  with  the  visible 
symbols  invisible  grace  is  given  and 
received." 

If  one  considers  this  great  act  impar- 
tially, it  is  impossible  not  to  see  that 
neither  Luther  nor  Melancthon  were 
the  real  leaders  of  the  time.  Already 
in  1526,  Luther  had  so  little  real  com- 
prehension of  what  ought  to  be  done,  or 
was  now  doing  in  Germany,  to  preserve 
the  gospel  from  destruction,  that  he 
wrote  to  a  friend  on  the  very  same  day 
that  the  decree  of  that  first  diet  at  Spires 
was  published : — "  The  diet  is  going  on 
in  the  German  way, — they  drink  and 
they  gamble;  for  the  rest,  nothing  is 
done  there."  He  shows  no  sympathy 
for  the  first  attempt  made  in  Hesse  at 
self-government  of  the  church ;  still  less 
did  he  see  the  importance  of  the  great 
act  now  achieved  at  Spires  by  the  com 
oined  courage  and  Christian  commoc 
tense  of  some  few  princes,  and  all  citiei 


Martin  Luther.         139 

flrhicli  could  act  freely.  It  was  evident 
that  Charles  was  now,  after  the  peace 
of  Cambray,  perfect  master  of  Germany; 
so  far,  at  least,  as  to  make  it  impossible 
that  Germany  should  become  a  Prot- 
estant nation,  and  that  the  protesting 
princes  and  cities  had  seen  the  necessity 
of  strengthening  that  alliance  of  which 
they  had  just  laid  the  foundation.  Lu- 
ther dissuaded  the  elector  from  sending 
deputies  to  the  meeting  agreed  upon  to 
be  held  at  Schmalkalden.  "  In  silence 
and  rest  will  be  your  strength,"  was  his 
vote.  The  elector  sent  deputies  in  order 
to  hinder  that  anything  should  be  de- 
cided. Luther  was  proud  of  this  suc- 
cess. "  Christ  the  Lord  will  deliver  ue 
without  the  landgrave,  and  even  against 
the  landgrave,"  was  his  saying.  This 
apparent  blindness  and  perversion  of 
mind  in  Luther  at  this  time  admits  of 
*wofold  explanation.  The  first  is  Lu- 
ther's loyal  and  sound  policy.     He  ab 


140         Marttn  Luther, 

horred  rebellion,  and  shuddered  from  a 
civil  war,  even  if  it  should  be  unavoid- 
able as  self-defence.  He  besides  saw 
clearly  that  the  princes,  divided  among 
themselves  as  they  were,  could  do  no- 
thing against  the  emperor  without  the 
best  part  of  the  nation,  represented  by 
the  cities ;  and  that  here,  too,  there  was 
want  of  mutual  trust  and  good  will, 
and  above  all  of  unity.  But  this  key 
opens  only  the  outer  door  to  Luther's 
mind.  To  understand  him,  when  he 
seems  proof  against  reason,  and  reason- 
ing even  his  own,  it  is  necessary  to  con- 
sider his  unshaken  faith,  and  that  he 
partook  of  the  quietism  of  his  German 
master,  Tauler,  and  the  Theologia  Ger- 
mcmica.  "  Suffer  God  to  do  his  work 
in  you  and  about  you,"  was  the  mottc 
of  that  school.  But  the  scholastic  train- 
ing also  had  its  influence  as  to  his  view 
of  the  Zwinglian  Eeformation,  and  it 
tentred    in    Luther's    sacramentalism 


Martin  Luther.         141 

This  point  requires  a  more  ample  con- 
Bid  eration. 

It  must  be  confessed  that  there  was 
a  theological  scruple  at  the  bottom  of 
Luther's  opposition  to  a  vigorous  Prot- 
estant alliance  and  national  attitude, 
which  was  sure  not  to  bring  on  war, 
but  to  prevent  it  by  making  the  execu- 
tion of  the  aggressive  plans  of  the  pope 
and  emperors  impossible.  This  be- 
trays itself,  first,  in  an  uneasiness  about 
Zwingle's  rising  influence  in  Germany ; 
and,  second,  as  a  doctrinal  idiosyncrasy 
respecting  the  sacrament  of  the  com- 
munion. Philip  of  Hesse  instantly  saw 
through  this,  and  said,  —  "I  see  they 
are  against  the  alliance  on  account  of 
the  Zwinglians ;  well,  let  us  see  whether 
we  cannot  make  these  theological  dif 
ferences  disappear."  It  is  well  known 
ihat  all  the  efforts  made  to  effect  a 
union  between  the  Zwinglian  and  Lu 
theran  parties,  from  the  conference  at 


142         Martin  Luther. 

Marburg,  in  1529,  to  the  end  of  Luther's 
life,  were  fruitless ;  and  it  is  impossible 
not  to  admit  that  the  fault  was  Luther's, 
and  that  he  became  aware  of  that  only 
on  his  deathbed.  As  we  are  thus  ar- 
rived at  the  deepest  tragedy  of  Luther's 
life  and  of  the  history  of  Protestantism, 
and  as  we  must  endeavor,  within  the 
narrow  limits  of  an  article,  to  establish 
historical  truth  on  these  important 
points,  as  far  as  it  is  indispensable  for 
a  true  and  philosophical  view  of  Lu- 
ther's life,  we  think  it  unnecessary  to 
prove  that  there  were  no  mean  passions 
at  work  in  Luther'a  mind ;  but  we  will 
say  shortly  that  it  was  the  great  tragedy 
of  the  Christian  mind  during  more  than 
one  thousand  years  to  which  Luthei 
l>aid  now  his  tribute. 

When  Luther  was  raised  above  him 
self  by  the  great  problem  before  him 
in  that  glorious  period  of  action,  from 
1518  to  1524,  he  considered  the  sacra- 


Martin  Luther.         143 

ments  altogether  as  a  part  of  the  ser- 
vices of  the  church,  and  a  secondary 
point,  in  comparison  with  the  right 
view  of  faith,  or  the  inward  Christi- 
anity which  implies  necessarily  an  un- 
selfish, believing,  and  thankful  mind. 
Having  come  to  the  conviction  that 
there  was  no  inherent  virtue  in  the  ele- 
ments abstractedly  from  the  commun- 
ion, it  was  indifferent  to  him  how  the 
spirituality  of  the  action  and  the  real 
presence,  even  the  transubstantiation, 
might  be  reconciled  with  that  faith. 
But  when  he  felt  himself  called  upon 
at  a  later  period  to  form  a  theory  re- 
specting the  doctrine  of  the  sacrament, 
he  could  never  get  free  from  the  action 
of  those  two  theological  schools,  the 
mystical  German  and  the  Latin  scholas- 
tic, in  the  point  where  they  combined. 
Dius,  to  his  end  Luther  firmly  be- 
lieved that  the  act  of  the  priest  pro- 
aouncing  the  words,  "This  is  my  body,'1 


144         Martin  Luther. 

produced  a  change  in  the  elements, 
making  them  the  body  and  blood  oi 
Christ,  which  he  interpreted,  however, 
as  meaning  the  whole  creature  of  Christ. 
Now,  nothing  was  ever  more  historical- 
ly erroneous.  It  has  been  shown  else- 
where by  the  writer  of  this  article, 
through  an  uninterrupted  chain  of  doc- 
umentary evidence  of  the  very  litur- 
gies, from  the  second  to  the  sixth  cen- 
tury, that  the  recital  of  the  words  of  the 
institution  was  nothing  but  the  histori- 
cal introduction  to  a  prayer  of  blessing 
for  the  communicants.  This  prayer 
invoked  the  Spirit  of  God  to  descend 
upon  the  assembled  worshiping  con- 
gregation. The  first  step  which  uncon- 
sciously led  to  misunderstandings,  was, 
that  the  blessing  of  God  was  also  called 
down  upon  the  elements  in  order  to  make 
the  food  prepared  for  the  faithful  the 
body  and  blood  of  Christ.  The  consecra- 
tion, in  other  words,  was  not  the  recita) 


Martin  Luther.         145 

of  the  w<  rds  of  institution,  but  a  prayer, 
down  te-  the  time  of  Basilius,  extem- 
porized, or  at  least  freely  spoken,  and 
always  ending  with  the  Lord's  Prayer. 
It  is  a  tragical  complication  that  the 
question  as  to  what  the  elements  be- 
came,— a  question  unknown  and  even 
unintelligible  during  the  first  five  centu- 
ries,— should  have  entangled  the  mighty 
evangelical  mind  of  the  Eeformer, 
whose  appointed  work  was  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  Romish  system  of  delusion, 
founded  upon  a  total  perversion  of  the 
fundamental  Christian  notions  respect- 
ing sacrifice,  priest,  and  atonement.  It 
was  this  fatal  ignorance  of  the  oblation 
of  the  sound  and  organic,  as  well  as  the 
morbid  Christian  worship  development, 
which  blinded  Luther  to  such  a  degree 
^s  not  only  to  put  a  simply  absurd  in- 
terpretation upon  the  words  of  the  in- 
stitution, but  to  base  the  question  of 
Christian  communion  between  evangel- 

13 


146  Martin  Luther. 

ical  Christians  upon  the  same  instead 
of  allowing  it  to  be  freely  discussed  as 
a  scholastic  question.  When  staking 
all  upon  what  he  called  a  literal  inter- 
pretation of  the  words,  "This  is  my 
body,"  he  ought  to  have  acknowledged 
at  least,  that  others  might  as  well  take 
objection,  if  not  to  the  absurdity  of  such 
a  meaning,  at  least  to  the  liberty  which 
Luther  claimed  for  himself  at  the  same 
time,  of  making  the  body  stand  for  the 
whole  life  contained  in  it,  not  to  speak 
of  the  objection  founded  upon  the  words 
of  institution  as  we  find  them  in  Luke 
and  St.  Paul. 

After  these  general  observations,  our 
historical  relation  of  what  remains  to  be 
told  of  Luther's  life  may  be  very  short. 

The  first  event  was  the  conference  of 
Marburg.    The  undaunted  spirit  of  the 
landgrave,  and  the  heroic  self-devoted 
Bpirit  of  Zwingle,  who  accepted  the  in 
citation  at  the  evident  risk  of  his  life 


Martin  Luther.         147 

brought  about  that  celebrated  meeting 
on  the  first  five  days  of  October,  1527. 
The  frank  and  liberal  declarations  and 
concessions  of  the  Swiss  Keformers 
Boon  cleared  away  all  shadows  of  differ- 
ence and  dissent,  except  that  about  the 
sacrament.  In  the  half  public  disputa- 
tion of  the  2d  of  October,  Zwingle  em- 
barrassed Luther  by  observing,  that  if 
the  body  of  Christ  was  in  the  bread 
and  wine,  in  any  other  than  a  spiritual 
sense,  he  must  be  present  in  a  given 
place,  by  the  very  nature  of  matter,  and 
not  above  matter,  in  heaven.  Luther 
parried  that  stroke  by  saying, — "  I  do 
not  mind  its  contradicting  nature,  pro- 
vided it  do  not  contradict  the  faith." 
Still  less  could  he  disentangle  himselt 
from  the  words  of  Christ  in  the  sixth 
chapter  of  St.  John,  which  Zwingle 
declared  he  could  not  discard,  as  it 
was  a  text  and  a  clear  one.  Not  more 
tatisfactory  was  Luther's  appeal  to  the 


148         Martin  Luther. 

fathers.  The  discussions  of  the  fom 
following  days,  however,  resulted  in 
recognizing  the  point  of  difference,  but 
reducing  its  expression  to  the  mildest 
form,  and  placing  it  in  the  background, 
as  compared  with  the  full  statement  of 
the  points  on  which  both  parties  were 
united.  Tears  of  joy  filled  all  eyes ; 
and  Zwingle,  with  (Ecolampadius  and 
Bucer,  returned  satisfied,  although  the 
promised  alliance  between  Germany  and 
Switzerland  was  not  concluded  owing  to 
Luther's  reluctance.  Zwingle  had  tri- 
umphed ;  his  views  became  naturalized 
in  Germany  where  hitherto  they  were 
little  known,  and  the  dreadful  words  of 
Luther, — "  Submit  yourselves ;  believe 
as  we  do,  or  you  cannot  be  acknowledged 
as  Christians,"  were  forgotten.  But  no 
Booner  had  Luther  returned  to  Wittem* 
berg  than  he  modified  the  articles  in  an 
exclusive  sense,  which  necessarily  shock- 
ed and  alienated  the  Keformed  party. 


Martin  Luther.  149 

The  issue  of  the  conference  at  Mar- 
burg was  a  sad  prelude  to  the  great  and 
decisive  diet  to  be  held  at  Augsburg 
in  1530, — the  diet  immortalized  by  the 
first  confession  of  evangelical  Chris- 
tendom. All  the  appearances  were 
changed ;  the  elector,  who,  as  well  as 
the  landgrave,  went  there  in  great 
pomp,  was  received  by  the  emperor  in 
the  most  flattering  manner.  All  was  to 
be  peace  and  concord  in  Germany.  Be- 
hind the  scenes  we  see  the  emperor 
quieting  his  brother  Ferdinand,  the 
head  of  the  Eomish  and  fanatical  party, 
who  protested  against  such  encourage- 
ment to  heresy.  He  writes  to  him : — 
"  I  shall  go  on  negotiating  without 
concluding  anything ;  fear  nothing  if  I 
even  should  conclude ;  there  will  never 
be  pretexts  wanting  to  you  to  chastise 
the  rebels,  and  you  will  find  people 
enough  too  happy  to  offer  you  theii 
Dower  as  a  means  of  vengeance." 

13* 


150  Martin  Luther. 

Charles  was  an  Austrian  tyrant  and 
a  Spanish  bigot,  and  a  great  politician 
of  the  Italian  school,  which  has  pro- 
cured him,  even  from  historians  of  our 
time,  che  name  of  a  great  man.  The 
only  reason  why  he  did  not  now  follow 
the  advice  of  the  cardinal-legate  and 
the  Spaniards,  and  of  his  own  brother 
Ferdinand,  was  simply  that  he  thought 
the  good  Germans  would  do  the  work 
of  destruction  themselves,  and  that  in 
the  mean  time  he  would  have  in  them 
check  upon  the  pope.  But  in  his  own 
mind  he  was  ready  to  sacrifice  to  the 
bigoted  party  all  the  constitutional 
rights  of  the  diet,  as  he  had  sacrificed 
that  wonderful  republic  of  Florence  to 
the  Medici  family  at  the  request  of  the 
holy  father,  who  (said  Charles)  could 
not  demand  anything  wrong:  of  course, 
least  of  all  in  a  case  which  regarded 
his  own  house ! 

The  diet  of  Augsburg  is  the  bright 


Martin  Luther.         153 

point  in  the  life  of  the  Elector  John  the 
Constant,  as  the  conference  of  Marburg 
is  in  that  of  the  landgrave.  When  the 
emperor's  ministers,  who  preceded  him 
at  Augsburg,  announced  to  the  elector 
the  emperor's  intentions,  in  order  to 
intimidate  him,  he  said, — "  If  the  em- 
peror intends  to  stop  the  preaching  of 
the  gospel,  I  shall  immediately  betake 
myself  to  my  home."  Luther  had  been 
left  at  Coburg,  the  nearest  safe  place 
for  the  proscribed,  and  was  consulted 
daily.  He  told  the  elector  he  had  no 
right  to  say  so ;  "  the  emperor  was  his 
master,  and  Augsburg  was  an  imperial 
town."  Grand  and  heroic,  although 
erroneous,  advice  of  the  man  whose  life 
must  have  been  the  first  sacrifice  of  a 
policy  which  the  elector  meant  to  resist ! 
The  lawyers,  however,  were  here  also 
in  fault ;  their  Bysantine  notions  of  im- 
perial rights  made  them  timid  in  the 
application  of   the  principles  of   the 


152         Martin  Luther, 

German  constitution.  The  Protestant 
princes  had  a  clear  constitutional  right 
to  resist  the  emperor,  standing  upon 
the  resolutions  and  the  edict  of  Worms, 
and  the  solemn  declaration  of  Spires. 
Melancthon  himself  thought  they  might 
maintain  the  right  of  preaching  the  gos- 
pel, only  abstaining  from  any  contro- 
versial point.  But  undoubtedly  those 
were  right  who  advised  the  elector  to 
remain.  As  to  the  chief  practical  point, 
Chancellor  Bruck  confirmed  the  elector 
in  his  resolution  not  to  allow  the  preach- 
ing of  the  gospel  to  be  interdicted  to 
him  and  his  friends.  As  to  alliances 
and  leagues,  the  elector  said, — "  I  have 
formed  no  secret  alliances ;  but  I  will 
show  those  I  have  entered  into  if  the 
others  will  show  theirs."  In  the  mean 
time  Melancthon  had  by  the  middle  of 
April  prepared  the  articles  of  the  con- 
fession with  their  defence,  the  so-called 
tnology.   Luther  sat  all  the  time  in  his 


Martin  Luther.  153 

Bolitary  castle.  "It  is  my  Sinai,"  lie 
said,  "  where  I  lift  up  my  hands  to  pray, 
as  Moses  did  during  the  battle."  He 
worked  at  the  psalms  and  the  prophets 
(he  translated  here  Jeremiah  and  Eze- 
kiel,)  and  dedicated  his  hours  of  recre- 
ation to  a  popular  edition  of  what  was 
called  JEsop's  Fables^  as  Socrates  did 
in  his  prison.  "  I  am  making  a  Zion 
out  of  this  Sinai,  and  build  there  three 
tents,  viz.,  one  for  the  psalms,  one  for 
the  prophets,  one  for  ^Esop ;"  a  truly 
German  saying,  which  the  historian 
of  the  Reformation  ought  not  to  have 
censured.  How  could  Luther  endure 
his  solitude  in  that  tremendous  crisis 
which,  as  far  as  the  affairs  of  Germany 
were  concerned,  he  saw  in  darker  colors 
than  anybody,  unless  he  had  some  re- 
creation of  this  kind.  But  besides,  his 
object  was  to  place  his  ^Esop  (which 
contains  many  compositions  of  his  own) 
*ai  the  hands  of  the  people,  instead  of  a 


154         Martin  Luther. 

common  popular  book  of  the  time,  of 
the  same  title,  of  Jhe  lowest  and  most 
immoral  description.  It  was  also  in 
this  solitude  that  he  wrote  that  admir- 
able letter  to  his  son  Hans,  with  tne 
description  of  the  garden  of  wonders. 
While  here  he  received  the  news  of  his 
father's  death,  which  affected  him  deep* 
ly,  so  that  his  health  began  to  give 
way,  and  his  hallucinations,  or  waking 
dreams,  recommenced.  The  news  of  the 
league  between  Charles  V.,  Francis  I., 
the  Pope,  and  Venice,  roused  at  times 
the  political  spirit  which  was  in  him. 
"  I  do  not  believe  a  word,"  he  said,  "  as 
to  the  reality  of  such  a  league.  Mon- 
sieur par  ma  foil  (Francis)  cannot  for- 
get the  battle  of  Pa  via ;  Monsieur  in 
nomme  domini  (Clement  VIII.)  is,  first, 
a  Welsh  (Italian,)  which  is  bad  enough ; 
secondly,  a  Florentine,  which  is  worse 
thirdly,  a  bastard,  a  child  of  the  devil ; 
*nd,  fourthly,  he  will  never  forget  th« 


Martin  Luther.         155 

indignity  of  the  plundering  of  Rome. 
The  Venetians,  finally,  are  "Venetians, 
and  they  have  reasons  enough  to  hate 
the  posterity  of  Maximilian.  Poor 
Charles,  he  is  like  a  sheep  among 
wolves;  God  will  save  him ! "  There  is 
the  sound  politician  and  the  loyal  Ger- 
man, hoping  against  hope,  and  trusting 
his  prince's  promises  as  long  as  he 
breathes! 

He  wrote  letters  full  of  comfort  to  the 
elector,  and  at  the  same  time  addressed 
one  of  his  most  powerful  writings  to  the 
clergy  assembled  in  the  diet  at  Augs- 
burg, in  which  he  shows  them  the  ab- 
surdity of  their  system,  and  the  un- 
christian spirit  of  their  claims.  The 
address  concludes  with  the  prophetic 
verse : — 

uPestis  eram  vivus;   moriens  ero  mors  tua 
Papa!" 

1"  O Pope,  thy  plague  I  was  in  life;  in  death  ] 
shall  be  thy  destruction  I  *| 


156  Martin  Luther. 

On  the  4th  of  June  Gattinara,  the 
chancellor  of  Charles,  died — an  Italian, 
who  most  earnestly  wished  a  real  reform 
of  the  church ;  and  the  advocates  of  per- 
secution got,  the  upper  hand.  On  the 
side  of  the  Protestants,  the  Swiss  party 
began  to  suspect  Melancthon,  and  com- 
plained of  the  use  of  Latin  chants  and 
surplices  in  Saxony;  while,  on  his  side, 
Melancthon  detested  what  he  called  the 
seditious  principles  and  worldly  reason- 
ing of  the  Swiss.  Soon  afterwards,  we 
see  him  ready  to  give  up  some  of  the 
essential  points  to  the  emperor,  who, 
on  his  approach  to  Augsburg,  said : — 
"  What  do  the  electors  want  ?  I  shall 
do  what  I  like."  Well  had  he  learned 
in  Spain  the  lessons  of  tyranny  which 
Cardinal  Ximenes  knew  so  well  to  ap- 
ply under  Philip  II.  But  he  prayed 
four  hours  every  day,  so  that  the  people 
Baid  (as  he  scarcely  ever  spoke,) — "  He 
talks  more  with  God  than  with  men."' 


Martin  Luther,         157 

When  in  the  conference  with  the  Pro- 
testant princes,  he  demanded  of  them 
to  cease  from  their  present  mode  oi 
worship,  they  declared  that  their  con- 
science did  not  allow  them  to  do  so, 
and  the  margrave  of  Brandenburg, 
bowing  down  towards  Charles,  and 
putting  his  hands  upon  his  neck,  cried 
out, — "  Eather  than  allow  myself  to  be 
deprived  of  the  word  of  the  Lord,  and 
rather  than  deny  my  God,  I  will  have 
my  head  cut  off  at  your  majesty's  feet." 
This  startled  the  Spaniard.  "  Dear 
prince,"  he  exclaimed,  "  not  the  head, 
not  the  head !  "  Imprisonment  will  do, 
he  thought  all  the  while,  and  those  in- 
cautious words  betray  that  thought. 
This  was  all  his  Sacred  Csesarean  Ma- 
jesty deigned  to  utter  during  the  diet. 
Great  was  his  wrath  when  the  princes 
declared  indignantly  that  they  would 
5iot  consent  to  follow  the  procession  oi 
the  host  at  the  festivals  of  Corjnu>  Do* 

14 


158         Martin  Luther. 

mini.  Why  not  worship  a  wafer  which 
the  priest  has  made  God?  And  why 
not  show  this  respect  to  the  emperor 
and  cardinal  ?  asked  Ferdinand.  "  We 
can  and  we  will  worship  none  but  God," 
they  unanimously  declared.  Their  wor- 
ship went  on,  and  the  vast  church  of 
the  Franciscans  was  always  crowded; 
an  eloquent  Zwinglian  preached  pow- 
erful sermons  from  the  book  of  Joshua 
about  the  people  of  Israel  in  the  face 
of  Canaan.  Charles  was  furious;  an 
insidious  compromise  was  proposed ;  the 
emperor  would  name  preachers  who 
should  simply  read  the  epistles  and 
gospel  of  the  day,  and  the  ordinary 
prayer  of  confession  before  the  mass. 
The  pusillanimity  of  Melancthon,  and 
the  legal  opinions  of  some  of  the  law- 
yers of  the  Protestant  princes  as  to  the 
emperor's  power  in  an  imperial  town 
overcame  the  repugnance  of  the  elector 
A.11  the  Protestant  preachers  left  the 


Martin  Luther.         159 

place  in  dismay.  The  whole  town  was 
in  consternation.  "Our  Lord  God," 
exclaimed  the  elector,  "has  received 
order  to  hold  his  tongue  at  the  diet !  " 
Luther  all  the  while  had  been  quiet, 
waiting  in  patience.  But  this  was  too 
much  for  him.  "  This  is  the  first  step," 
said  he,  "  to  the  demand  that  we  give 
up  our  faith.  We  have  to  fight  against 
the  gates  of  hell."  "  Keep  up  your 
courage,"  he  wrote  to  Melancthon,  "  for 
you  are  the  ambassador  of  a  great  King." 
The  elector  and  his  theologians  thought 
it  justifiable  that,  in  virtue  of  his  office 
as  grand  marshal  of  the  empire,  he 
should  bear  before  the  emperor  the 
sword  of  state,  when  the  latter  attended 
the  mass  of  the  Holy  Ghost  at  the  open 
ing  of  the  diet,  on  which  occasion  an 
Italian  archbishop  preached  a  most  fa» 
natical  and  insulting  sermon  against 
the  Germans,  as  being  worse  enemies 
of  God  than  the  Turks.  In  the  imperial 


160         Martin  Luther. 

opening  speech,  Charles  spoke  of  the 
lamentable  dissensions  which  encroach- 
ed upon  the  imperial  majesty,  and  must 
produce  sedition  and  murder.  The 
Protestants  were  required  to  present 
their  confession.  The  elector  signed  it 
first ;  four  other  princes  and  two  cities 
dfter  him,  without  any  observation ;  the 
landgrave  of  Hesse,  however,  did  not 
sign  it  without  saying  he  did  not  agree 
as  to  the  doctrine  of  the  communion. 
The  article  says, — "  That  the  body  and 
blood  of  Christ  are  verily  present,  and 
are  administered  in  the  Lord's  Supper 
to  those  who  partake  of  it  [and  we  dis- 
approve those  who  teach  otherwise."] 
The  words  in  brackets  were  left  out  in 
later  editions  made  during  Luther's 
afetime.  On  this  occasion  the  princes 
took  really  the  lead,  and  the  whole  was 
done  as  a  great  national,  not  as  a  sacer- 
dotal work,  in  spite  of  poor  Melanc- 
thon's  scruples.     This  good  man  wai 


Martin  Luther.  161 


Indeed  entirely  out  of  his  sphere,  and 
lost  his  time,  and  committed  the  cause 
of  Protestantism,  by  trying  to  bring 
about  a  compromise  where  there  was 
no  possibility  of  an  honest  understand- 
ing. In  the  mean  time,  Luther  was 
eft  in  complete  and  cruel  ignorance  of 
all  that  was  going  on ;  and  when  at  last 
the  letters  of  Melancthon  arrived,  they 
were  full  of  fears  and  sad  misgivings. 
During  all  this  anxious  time,  Luther 
sought  and  found  his  comfort  in  con- 
stant prayer  and  occupation  with  the 
word  of  God.  "  Where  is  Christ's 
Church,  if  it  is  not  with  us?  Faith 
alone  is  required.  I  will  rather  fall 
with  Christ  than  stand  with  Caesar." 
Luther  reprimanded  Melancthon  sharp- 
ly for  his  pusillanimity,  and  some  ot 
his  letters  to  him  are  addressed — "  To 
Master  Philip  Kleinmuth"  (pusillani- 
mous.) 

After  many  tergiversations,  the  Prot- 

14* 


102  Martin  Luther. 

estants  obtained  their  just  demand ; 
the  confession,  drawn  up  by  Melane- 
thon  and  approved  by  Luther,  was  read 
in  public  sitting  on  the  25th  June,  1530. 
A  great  day,  worthy  of  the  most  glori- 
ous days  of  the  apostolic  times.  Lu- 
ther was  not  present ;  he  was  dead  as  a 
public  man.  But  he  lived  in  God,  and 
for  his  faith  and  country.  Nothing 
could  damp  his  spirits.  "  I  also  have 
my  diet,"  he  said ;  "  and  what  lively 
discussions !  "  —  referring  playfully  to 
the  rooks  which  swarmed  round  his 
tower. 

The  emperor  ordered  the  confession 
to  be  read  in  Latin.  "  No,"  said  the 
elector  ;"we  are  Germans,  and  on  Ger- 
man ground.  I  hope,  therefore,  your 
majesty  will  allow  us  to  speak  German." 
The  emperor  gave  way,  recollecting  for 
the  nonce  he  was  in  Germany,  and  that 
the  Germans  had  a  language  of  their 
>wn,  and  the  strange  fancy  of  using  if 


Martin  Luther.         163 

even  in  theological  affairs.  When  the 
chancellor  of  the  elector  had  read  the 
first  part  of  that  grand  confession, 
which  expounds  the  principles  of  the 
Reformation,  and,  in  particular,  the 
doctrine  of  justification  by  faith — "  that 
faith  which  is  not  the  mere  knowledge 
of  a  historical  fact,  but  that  which  be- 
lieves not  only  the  history,  but  also  the 
effect  of  that  history  upon  the  mind," — 
there  was  an  indescribable  effect  visibly 
produced  upon  the  assembly.  The  oppo- 
nents felt  that  there  was  a  reality  before 
them  which  they  had  never  imagined ; 
and  others  said,  such  a  profession  of  faith 
by  such  princes  was  a  more  effectual 
preaching  than  that  which  had  been 
stopped.  "  Christ,"  exclaimed  Jonas 
(Melancthon's  companion,)  "  is  in  the 
diet,  and  he  does  not  keep  silence :  the 
Word  of  God  is  indeed  not  to  be  bound." 
And  forth  these  words  have  gone 
through  a  world  wider  than  that  to 


164          Martin  Luther. 

which  the  apostles  preached.  After  a 
pause,  the  second  part,  the  articles  about 
the  abuses  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  was 
read  and  heard  with  profound  silence 
by  them  itred  prelates  of  that  church 
who  were  there  assembled.  As  to 
the  emperor,  he  slept  during  the  whole 
of  the  reading,  or  seemed  to  sleep,  like 
a  tiger  ready  to  espy  the  most  conven- 
ient moment  for  leaping  upon  its  prey. 
In  the  mean  time,  he  calculated  un- 
doubtedly, what  political  capital  he 
could  make  of  the  Protestants  against 
the  pope. 

Luther  addressed  a  letter  to  the  car- 
dinal elector  of  Mainz,  demanding 
nothing  but  one  article,  but  insisting 
upon  that  unconditionally — the  liberty 
of  preaching  the  gospel.  "  Neither 
emperor,"  he  says,  "  nor  pope  has  the 
tight  of  forcing  any  one  to  believe." 
With  Melancthon  and  the  other  friends 
he  insisted  upon  their  leaving  Augs* 


Martin  Luther.         165 

burg  immediately.  "  Home — home — 
home ! "  he  exclaimed.  "  Might  it 
please  God  that  I  should  be  immolated 
at  this  council,  as  John  Huss  was  at 
Constance !  "  All  the  sayings  of  Luther 
during  this  crisis  are  sublime  and  of  a 
truly  prophetic  character.  He  foresaw 
that  now  every  effort  would  be  made 
at  Augsburg  to  destroy  the  principles 
of  the  Reformation  by  a  treacherous 
compromise  and  a  false  peace.  "  The 
diet,"  he  said,  "  is  a  regular  dramatic 
piece :  first,  there  is  the  prologue,  then 
the  exposition,  then  the  action, — now 
comes  the  catastrophe ;  but  I  think  it 
will  not  be  a  tragic,  but  a  comic  end." 
And,  indeed,  so  it  turned  out  to  be, 
tragical  as  it  was.  The  first  triumphant 
effect  of  the  confession  soon  passed 
away;  the  new  converts,  particularly 
among  the  prelates,  withdrew ;  the  fan- 
atical party  doubled  its  efforts,  and 
Charles  gave  way  to  it,  and  aided  its 


166  Martin  Luther. 

ends  by  all  diplomatic  artifices.  Me- 
lancthon  was  caught.  He  entered  into 
conferences  in  the  vain  hope  they  would 
lead  to  concord;  he  declared  himself 
ready  to  maintain  and  obey  the  su- 
preme authority  of  the  pope,  if  he  would, 
by  an  act  of  clemency,  connive  at,  if 
not  approve,  some  points  which  they 
could  not  change.  During  the  treach- 
erous conferences  which  now  began, 
the  emperor  tried  to  intimidate  the 
elector  by  threatening  not  to  grant  him 
the  investiture,  which  the  elector  claim- 
ed, however,  as  his  hereditary  right  as 
brother  of  his  predecessor ;  and  to  fright- 
en all  the  Protestant  princes  and  the 
Protestant  imperial  city  of  Augsburg 
with  measures  of  violence,  by  calling 
m  the  imperial  troops,  and  keeping  the 
gates  closed.  The  landgrave  escaped. 
This  act  caused  dismay  among  the 
ranks  of  the  catholics,  for  a  war  could 
uot  be  risked  at  this  moment.   The  Ko» 


Martin  Luther,         167 

manists  changed  their  tactics ;  they  con- 
ceded, or  rather  feigned  to  concede; 
for  meanwhile,  the  pope  had  declared 
solemnly  that  he  would  not  give  up 
those  very  points.  The  Protestants 
acknowledged  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
bishops  and  the  supremacy  of  the  pope, 
A  cry  of  indignation  rose  among  the 
princes,  and,  among  all,  among  the 
brave  citizens  of  Augsburg.  "  Rather 
die  with  Jesus  Christ,"  they  declared, 
"  than  conquer  without  Him  the  favor 
of  the  whole  world." 

At  this  critical  moment  Luther's  in- 
dignation rose  to  a  holy  wrath,  like  that 
of  the  prophets  of  old.  "I  understand," 
said  he  to  Melancthon,  "  that  you  have 
begun  a  marvelous  work,  namely  to 
make  Luther  and  the  pope  agree  toge- 
ther ;  but  the  pope  will  say  that  he  will 
not,  and  Luther  begs  to  be  excused. 
Should  you,  however,  after  all,  succeed 
in  your  affair,  I  will  follow  your  exam- 


168         Martin  Luther. 

pie,  and  make  an  agreement  between 
Christ  and  Belial.  Take  care  that  you 
give  not  up  the  justification  by  faith ; 
that  is  the  heel  of  the  seed  of  the  wo- 
man to  crush  the  serpent's  head.  Take 
care  not  to  acknowledge  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  bishops ;  they  will  soon  take  all. 
In  short,  all  your  negotiations  have  no 
chance  of  success  unless  the  pope  will 
renounce  papacy.  Now,  mind,  if  you 
mean  to  shut  up  that  glorious  eagle, 
the  gospel,  in  a  sack,  as  sure  as  Christ 
lives,  Luther  will  come  to  deliver  that 
eagle  with  might." 

But  Melancthon  was  changed:  Lu- 
ther's voice  had  lost  its  power  over  him. 
The  extreme  Protestant  views  maintain- 
ed in  a  declaration  which  Zwingle  had 
delivered  to  the  emperor,  disposed  him 
to  cling  still  more  to  Rome.  All  seem- 
ed for  the  moment  lost;  but  Luther's 
faith  had  discerned  the  way  in  which 
€k>d  meant  to  save  the  Protestant  cause. 


Martin  Luther,  169 

and  had  said, — "  Christ  lives ;  he  who 
has  vanquished  the  violence  of  our  en- 
emies, can  also  give  us  the  power  of 
breaking  through  their  artifices."  The 
Romanists  fortunately  insisted  upon 
four  points, — celibacy,  confession,  the 
denial  of  the  cup  to  the  laity,  and  the 
retaining  of  private  masses.  This  was 
too  much:  the  conference  separated. 
The  Romanists  now  conceded  the  cup 
and  the  marriage  of  the  priests;  but 
they  would  not  give  up  the  private 
masses,  nor  the  obligation  of  confession 
and  penance  for  the  remission  of  sin, 
and  required  an  acknowledgment  of  the 
meritorious  character  of  good  works. 
Melancthon  stood  firm,  on  which  the 
emperor  and  Clement  played  out  their 
last  card ;  an  ecumenical  council  should 
be  convened ;  but,  in  the  mean  time, 
the  Protestants  should  conform  to  the 
doctrine  and  rites  of  the  Catholic  church. 
Charles  accompanied  this  communica 

15 


170         Martin  Luther. 

tion  with  the  most  insulting  threati 
against  the  Protestant  princes,  who  de- 
clined to  negotiate",  and  declared  their 
resolution  to  abide  by  the  status  quo  oi 
Worms  until  the  council  should  assem- 
ble. The  emperor  indeed  went  so  far 
as  to  forbid  the  princes  to  quit  Augs- 
burg, but  the  elector  was  firm  as  a 
rock :  his  son  left  the  town  on  the  12th 
of  September.  Melancthon  had  re- 
gained his  courage  and  sagacity.  When 
Luther  heard  what  was  taking  place, 
he  raised  his  voice  from  Coburg — "  De- 
part !  depart !  even  if  it  must  be,  with 
the  curse  of  pope  and  emperor  upon 
you.  You  have  confessed  Jesus  Christ, 
you  have  offered  peace,  you  have  obey- 
ed the  emperor,  you  have  supported 
insults  of  every  kind,  you  have  with- 
stood blasphemies :  now  I  will  encour- 
age you, — as  one  of  the  faithful  mem- 
bers of  Jesus  Christ.  He  is  making 
ready  our  enemies  as  victims  for  thf 


Martin  Luther.          171 

sacrifice;  he  will  presently  consume 
their  pride  and  deliver  his  people.  Yes, 
he  will  bring  us  safely  out  of  Babylon 
and  her  burning  walls."  When  the 
emperor  saw  that  the  elector  was  re- 
solved on  departing,  he  communicated 
to  the  five  princes  and  the  six  towns 
(four  more  having  joined  since  Nurem- 
berg and  Reutlingen,)  a  proposal  for  a 
recess,  or  definitive  decree  of  the  diet, 
— that  six  months  should  elapse  to  give 
time  for  an  arrangement;  and  mean- 
time, Protestants  and  Catholics  should 
unite  in  a  common  attack  upon  the 
Anabaptists  and  those  who  denied  the 
holy  sacrament,  the  Zwinglians;  but 
the  Protestants  alike  withstood  threats 
and  flatteries ;  and  the  elector  took  his 
leave,  as  he  had  announced,  on  the  23d 
of  September. 

The  author  of  this  article  cannot 
agree  with  the  saying  of  the  eloquent 
Historian  of  the  Reformation,  that  if  tne 


172  Martin  Luther. 

glorification  of  man  was  the  purpose  and 
end  of  God's  ways,  and  not  God's  glory 
alone,  one  must  wish  Luther  had  died 
at  the  Wartburg.  "We  have  seen  that 
it  was  he  who,  in  1524,  pacified  Wit  tern 
berg  and  Saxony  by  his  reappearance, 
and  achieved  wonders  as  a  practical 
Reformer;  and  in  1525,  attempted,  as 
pacificator  of  Germany,  what  nobody 
but  himself  could  and  would  have  done. 
But  whose  was  the  never-shaken  mind  ? 
Who  among  the  German  theologians 
and  Reformers  was  the  organ  of  God 
and  of  the  German  nation  during  the 
greater  part  of  the  momentous  diet  of 
Augsburg  ?  Who  else  but  the  man  in 
the  solitary  tower  at  Coburg!  From 
this  time  forth,  however,  he  had  nothing 
left  to  do  but  to  look  the  tragedy  in  the 
face,  as  a  believer  in  God  and  his  king- 
dom on  earth,  praying  and  preach- 
ing, and  finally  to  die  the  death  of  a 
faithful   and   hopeful  Christian  saint 


Martin  Luther.  173 

All  the  rest  is  patient,  suffering  mar- 
tyrdom. 

Some  of  the  most  powerful  Komanist 
princes,  the  archbishop  of  Mayence  at 
their  head,  assured  the  elector  on  his  de- 
parture, that  they  would  never  join  the 
emperor  in  adopting  any  violent  meas- 
ures against  him,  although  the  brother 
of  the  archbishop  Joachim,  elector  of 
Brandenburg,  had  presumed  to  promise 
in  their  name  that  they  would.  Even 
Ferdinand  said  some  civil  words.  But 
why?  Simply  because  (as  Charles 
could  not  refrain  from  saying  in  his 
wrath)  the  emperor  was  more  than  ever 
resolved  to  resort  to  arms.  "  Nothing 
but  armaments  will  have  any  effect,', 
he  said.  Indeed,  he  announced  this  as 
his  resolution  immediately  to  the  pope, 
and  requested  him  to  summon  all  Chris- 
tian princes  to  assist  him.  The  Catho- 
lic league  was  signed  on  the  13th  of 

October.     The  anti -reformatory  move- 
is* 


174  Martin  Luther, 

ment  was  begun  in  the  town  of  Aupi 
burg  itself.  The  answer  to  this  was  th* 
declaration  of  sixteen  imperial  towns, 
instead  of  six,  that  they  would  not  grant 
any  subsidies  against  the  Turks  so  long 
as  the  affairs  of  Germany  remained  un 
settled.  The  Zwinglian  and  Lutheran 
towns  shook  hands;  and  this  was  the 
expression  of  the  real  feeling  of  the 
whole  German  nation,  only  priests, 
pastors,  and  theologians  excepted.  The 
Protestant  dignitaries  declared  that  they 
rej  ected  the  imperial  closing  declaration, 
as  the  emperor  had  no  right  to  command 
in  matters  of  faith.  Luther  was  the 
organ  of  the  universal  feeling  of  the 
German  people,  when  he  exclaimed, 
"  Our  enemies  do  not  fill  me  with  fear 
I,  on  the  contrary,  shall  put  them  down 
in  the  strength  of  the  Lord.  My  life 
shall  be  their  executioner;  my  death 
their  hell  "  Indeed,  his  work  was  ac- 
complished for  all  countries  and  for  ah 


Martin  Luther*         175 

ages.  The  rest  of  his  life  was  one  long 
pang,  although  he  did  not  live  to  see 
the  most  dreadful  calamity, — the  break- 
ing ont  of  the  civil  war  of  religioo 
which  began  immediately  after  hig 
death.  He  wrote  an  address  to  th« 
German  nation,  warning  them  not  to 
yield  to  Rome,  and  not  to  trust  any  ne- 
gotiations ;  "  for,"  said  he,  "  they  know 
no  argument  but  force.  Be  not  deceiv- 
ed by  their  words  about  obedience  to  the 
church.  The  church  is  a  poor  erring 
sinner,  without  Christ ;  not  the  church, 
but  Christ  is  the  faith."  The  cause  of 
the  Reformation  made  progress;  the 
Protestant  alliance,  begun  by  the  con- 
vention of  Schmalkalden,  gained  new 
members ;  Denmark  acceded,  and  Joa 
chim  II.  became  as  staunch  a  defendei 
of  the  faith  of  his  mother  as  Joachim  I. 
had  been  its  violent  enemy.  As  Luthei 
had  prophesied,  the  negotiations  with 
the  polish  party  in  1541,  renewed  a1 


176         Martin  Luther. 

Ratisbon,  led  to  no  result.  The  emper- 
or, at  the  Diet  of  Spires  in  1544,  dared 
no  longer  refuse  to  the  Protestants  the 
equal  right  which  they  claimed.  The 
Romish  council  opened  at  Trent  in 
1544,  and  its  firet  proceeding  was  to 
lead  the  pope's  anathema  against  the 
Protestants. 

It  is  in  this  latter  period  (from  1539 
to  1543)  that  a  secret  letter  of  advice, 
drawn  up  by  Melancthon,  was  given 
by  Luther  and  his  friends  to  the  land- 
grave Philip  in  answer  to  his  pressing 
request  (sanctioned  by  the  landgravine, 
who  suffered  from  an  incurable  inward 
disorder)  to  deliver  him  from  the  sin 
of  fornication,  by  allowing  him  to 
marry  a  lady  of  the  landgravine's  court. 
After  the  masterly  discussion  of  this  sub- 
ject by  Archdeacon  Hareinhis  Vindica- 
tion of  Luther,  republished  (1855)  from 
the  notes  to  his  Mission  of  the  Comfort- 
er, it  is  not  necessary,  least  of  all  to  Eng 


Martin  Luther.         177 

ash  readers,  to  enter  into  details  in 
order  to  prove  the  report  of  Bossuet  to 
be  a  tissue  of  falsehoods  and  malignity. 
We  limit,  therefore,  ourselves  to  stating 
the  decisive  facts.  First.  The  error 
committed  in  this  secret  advice  by  the 
Reformers  was  a  perfectly  sincere  one ; 
it  arose  from  an  indistinct  view  of  the 
applicability  of  the  patriarchal  ordi- 
nances and  of  the  Mosaic  law,  which 
admits  a  second  wife  legally,  as  indeed 
Moses  himself  seems  to  have  had  two 
wives  at  the  same  time.  Now,  as  the 
Reformers  could  not  show  an  express 
abrogation  of  those  ordinances  and  of 
this  law,  they  were  led  into  this  sad 
mistake.  Secondly.  There  was  in  their 
advice  no  worldly  regard  whatever,  as 
to  any  benefits  and  advantages  which 
might  accrue  to  themselves,  or  to  the 
cause  of  the  Reformation.  They  knew 
that  the  landgrave  had  his  whole  heart 
In  the  cause  of  the  Reformation,  and 


178         Martin  Luther. 

had  often  risked  his  life  and  states  for 
it.  Thirdly.  When  in  1540,  Philip 
divulged  the  secret,  contrary  to  his 
promise,  they  spoke  out  and  confessed 
their  mistake,  and  Melancthon  was 
brought  by  his  grief  to  the  verge  of  the 
grave.  Fourthly.  When,  in  the  course 
of  the  controversy,  Bucer  published,  in 
1541,  his  pamphlet  in  defence  of  polyg- 
amy (under  the  name  of  Hulderic 
Neobulus,)  Luther  pronounced  his  judg- 
ment upon  the  book  and  on  the  subject 
in  the  following  solemn  words : — "  He 
who  desires  my  judgment  upon  this 
book,  let  him  hear.  Thus  says  Dr. 
Martin  Luther  on  the  book  of  Neobu- 
lus: He  who  follows  this  rogue  and 
book,  and  thereupon  takes  more  than 
one  wife,  and  means  that  this  should 
be  a  matter  of  right,  may  the  devil 
bless  his  bath  in  the  bottom  of  hell. 
This,  God  be  praised,  I  well  know  how 
lo  maintain Much  less  shall  thej 


Martin  Luther.         179 

establish  the  law,  that  a  man  may  sep- 
arate himself  from  his  wife  rightfully, 
when  she  has  not  already  separated 
herself  by  open  adultery,  which  this 
rogue  would  also  like  to  teach."  We 
possess  also  the  sketch  of  his  intended 
full  reply  to  Bucer's  book ;  and  there 
we  find  the  following  sentence : — "  We 
have  already  shown  in  a  number  of 
books,  that  the  law  of  Moses  does  not 
concern  us,  and  that  we  are  not  to  look  to 
the  examples  in  the  history  of  the  saints, 
much  less  of  the  kings,  to  their  faith, 
and  to  God's  commandments." 

The  dark  side  of  this  latter  portion  of 
Luther's  life  is  his  controversy  with  the 
Reformed.  He  seemed  now  and  then 
inclined  to  yield  to  their  entreaties  for 
a  union,  as  is  shown  by  his  letter  oi 
1531  to  Bucer  of  Strasburg ;  and  he  de- 
clared his  sincere  wish  for  a  union  to 
the  landgrave  in  1534.  He  does  not 
think  the  work  ought  to  be  precipitated, 


180         Martin  Luther. 

but  he  prays  to  live  to  see  it  take  place. 
The  concord  of  "VYittemberg,  begun  by 
Bucer  in  1536,  which  left  it  just  possi- 
ble to  the  Reformed  not  to  see  their 
view  of  the  sacrament  excluded,  has  his 
cordial  sympathy.  Finally,  on  the  17th 
FeDruary,  1537,  he  writes  to  tha  Bur- 
gomaster of  Basel,  James  Meyer,  in 
terms  which  excited  among  the  Swiss 
the  hope  he  would  give  up  his  exclusive 
views.  But  when  (Ecolampadius  pub- 
lished the  writings  of  Zwingle,  after 
this  great  and  holy  man  had  died  a 
patriot's  death  in  the  battle  of  Cappel, 
Luther  became  so  incensed,  that  he 
wrote,  in  1544,  two  years  before  hia 
death,  the  most  violent  of  all  his  sacra- 
mentary  treatises, — A  Short  Confession 
respecting  the  Lortfs  Supper. 

However,  his  last  word  on  his  death- 
bed, was  one  of  peace.  He  is  credibly 
reported  to  have  said  to  Melancthon  in 
tfie  course  of  a  dying  conversation- 


Martin  Luttier,  181 

f<  Dear  Philip,  I  confess  to  have  gone 
too  far  in  the  affair  of  the  sacrament." 

The  year  1546  began  with  "unmistak- 
able indications  that  Charles  was  now 
ready  to  strike  a  decisive  blow. 

Luther  had  been  suffering  much  du- 
ring the  last  few  years,  and  he  felt  his 
end  to  be  near  at  hand.  In  the  month 
of  January,  1546,  he  undertook  a  jour- 
ney to  Eisleben  in  very  inclement  wea- 
ther, in  order  to  restore  peace  in  the 
family  of  the  counts  of  Mansfeld;  he 
caught  a  violent  cold;  preached  four 
times ;  and  took  all  the  time  an  active 
part  in  the  work  of  conciliation.  On 
the  17th  of  February  he  felt  that  his 
release  was  at  hand ;  and  at  Eisleben, 
where  he  was  born,  he  died,  in  faith 
and  prayer,  on  the  following  day.  No- 
thing can  be  more  edifying  than  the 
scene  presented  by  the  last  days  of  Lu- 
ther, of  which  we  have  the  most  authen- 
tic and  detailed  accounts.  When  dying, 

16 


182         Martin  Luther. 

he  collected  his  last  strength  and  offered 
up  the  following  prayer : — "  Heavenly 
Father,  eternal,  merciful  God,  thou  hast 
revealed  to  me  thy  dear  Son,  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ :  Him  I  have  taught — Him 
I  have  confessed  —  Him  I  love  as  my 
Saviour  and  Redeemer,  whom  the  wick- 
ed persecute,  dishonor,  and  reprove. 
Take  my  poor  soul  up  to  thee !  "  Then 
two  of  his  friends  put  to  him  the  solemn 
question, — "Reverend  Father,  do  you 
die  in  Christ  and  in  the  doctrine  you 
have  constantly  preached?"  He  an- 
swered by  an  audible  and  joyful  "yes;" 
and  repeating  the  verse,  "  Father,  into 
thy  hands  I  commend  my  spirit,"  he 
expired  peaceably,  without  a  struggle, 
on  the  18th  of  February,  1546,  at  fom 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 


SPIRITUAL, 

PORTRAIT  OF  LUTHER. 

Br  THOMAS  CARLYLE. 


Luther's  birthplace  was  Eisleben  in 
Baxony ;  lie  came  into  the  world  there 
on  the  10th  of  November  1483.  It  was 
an  accident  that  gave  this  honor  to 
Eisleben.  His  parents,  poor  mine-labor- 
ers in  a  village  of  that  region,  named 
Mohra,  had  gone  to  the  Eisleben  Win- 
ter-Fair :  in  the  tumult  of  this  scene  the 
Frau  Luther  was  taken  with  travail, 
found  refuge  in  some  poor  house  there, 
and  the  boy  she  bore  was  named  Mar- 
tin Luther.  Strange  enough  to  reflect 
upon  it.  This  poor  Frau  Luther,  she 
had  gone  with  her  husband  to  make 
her  small  merchandisings ;  perhaps  to 


184    Spiritual  Portrait  of  Luther, 

Bell  the  lock  of  yarn  she  had  been  spin- 
ning, to  buy  the  small  winter-necessa- 
ries for  her  narrow  hut  or  household ; 
in  the  whole  world,  that  day,  there  was 
not  a  more  entirely  unimportant-look- 
ing paii  of  people  than  this  Miner  and 
his  Wife.  And  yet  what  were  all  Em- 
perors, Popes  and  Potentates,  in  com- 
parison? There  was  born  here,  once 
more,  a  Mighty  Man ;  whose  light  was 
to  flame  as  the  beacon  over  long  cen- 
turies and  epochs  of  the  world;  the 
whole  world  and  its  history  was  waiting 
for  this  man.  It  is  strange,  it  is  great. 
It  leads  us  back  to  another  Birth-hour, 
in  a  still  meaner  environment,  Eighteen 
Hundred  years  ago,  —  of  which  it  is  fit 
that  we  say  nothing,  that  we  think  only 
in  silence ;  for  what  words  are  there ! 
The  Age  of  Miracles  past  ?  The  Age 
of  Miracles  is  forever  here ! 

I  find  it  altogether  suitable  to  Lu- 
ther's function  in  this  Earth,  and  doubt 


by  Thomas  Carlyle.  185 

Less  wisely  ordered  to  that  end  by  the 
Providence  presiding  over  him  and  us 
and  all  things,  that  he  was  born  poor, 
and  brought  up  poor,  one  of  the  poor- 
est of  men.  He  had  to  beg,  as  the 
school-children  in  those  times  did ;  sing- 
ing for  alms  and  bread,  from  door  to 
door.  Hardship,  rigorous  Necessity 
was  the  poor  boy's  companion  ;  no  man 
nor  no  thing  would  put  on  a  false  face 
to  flatter  Martin  Luther.  Among  things, 
not  among  the  shows  of  things,  had  he 
to  grow.  A  boy  of  rude  figure,  yet 
with  weak  health,  with  his  large  greedy 
soul,  full  of  all  faculty  and  sensibility. 
he  suffered  greatly.  But  it  was  his 
task  to  get  acquainted  with  realiUes1 
and  keep  acquainted  with  them,  at 
whatever  cost:  his  task  was  to  bring 
the  whole  world  back  to  reality,  for  it 
had  dwelt  too  long  with  semblance! 
A  youth  nursed-up  in  wintry  whirl- 
winds, in  desolate  darkness  and  dim 

16* 


186    Spiritual  Pwtrait  of  Luther, 

eulty,  that  he  may  step  forth  at  last 
from  his  stormy  Scandinavia,  strong  as 
a  true  man,  as  a  god:  a  Christian  Odin, 
— a  right  Thor  once  more,  with  his 
thunder-hammer,  to  smite  asunder  ugly 
enough  Jotuns  and  Giant-monsters  I 

Perhaps  the  turning  incident  of  his 
life,  we  may  fancy,  was  that  death  of 
his  friend  Alexis,  by  lightning,  at  the 
gate  of  Erfurt.  Luther  had  struggled 
up  through  boyhood,  better  and  worse ; 
displaying,  in  spite  of  all  hindrances, 
the  largest  intellect,  eager  to  learn :  his 
father  judging  doubtless  that  he  might 
promote  himself  in  the  world,  set  him 
upon  the  study  of  Law.  This  was  the 
path  to  rise ;  Luther,  with  little  will  in 
it  either  way,  had  consented ;  he  was 
now  nineteen  years  of  age.  Alexis  and 
he  had  been  to  see  the  old  Luther  people 
at  Mansfeld ;  were  got  back  again  near 
Erfurt,  when  a  thunderstorm  came  on ; 
the  bolt  struck  Alexis,  he  fell  dead  at 


by  Thomas  Cwrlyle.  187 

Luther's  feet.  "What  is  this  Life  of 
ours  ? — gone  in  a  moment,  burnt  up  like 
a  scroll,  into  the  blank  Eternity !  What 
are  all  earthly  preferments,  Chancellor- 
Bhips,  Kingships?  They  lie  shrunk 
together — there !  The  Earth  has  open- 
ed on  them;  in  a  moment  they  are 
not,  and  Eternity  is.  Luther,  struck 
to  the  heart,  determined  to  devote 
himself  to  God,  and  God's  service 
alone.  In  spite  of  all  dissuasions  from 
his  father  and  others,  he  became  a 
Monk  in  the  Augustine  Convent  at 
Erfurt. 

This  was  probably  the  first  light-point 
in  the  history  of  Luther,  his  purer  will 
now  first  decisively  uttering  itself;  but, 
for  the  present,  it  was  still  as  one  light- 
point  in  an  element  all  of  darkness.  He 
says  he  was  a  pious  monk,  ich  bin  ein 
frommer  Mdnch  gewesen;  faithfully, 
painfully  struggling  to  work  out  the 
truth  of  this  high  act  of  his ;  but  it  was 


188    Spiritual  Portrait  of  .Lather. 

to  little  purpose.  His  misery  had  net 
lessened;  had  rather,  as  it  were,  in- 
creased into  infinitude.  The  drudgeriea 
he  had  to  do,  as  novice  in  his  Convent, 
all  sorts  of  slave-work,  were  not  his 
grievance :  the  deep  earnest  soul  of  the 
man  had  fallen  into  all  manner  of  black 
scruples,  dubitations ;  he  believed  him- 
self likely  to  die  soon,  and  far  worse 
than  die.  One  hears  with  a  new  inter- 
est for  poor  Luther  that,  at  this  time, 
he  lived  in  terror  of  the  unspeakable 
misery ;  fancied  that  he  was  doomed  to 
eternal  reprobation.  Was  it  not  the 
humble  sincere  nature  of  the  man? 
What  was  he,  that  he  should  be  raised 
to  Heaven !  He  that  had  known  only 
misery,  and  mean  slavery:  the  news 
was  too  blessed  to  be  credible.  It  could 
not  become  clear  to  him  how,  by  fasts, 
vigils,  formalities  and  mass-work,  a 
man's  soul  could  be  saved.  He  fell 
into  the  blackest  wretchedness ;  had  to 


"by  Ihomas  CarCyZe.  189 

wander  staggering  as  on  the  verge  oi 
bottomless  Despair. 

It  must  have  been  a  most  blessed 
discovery,  that  of  an  old  Latin  Bible 
which  he  found  in  the  Erfurt  Library 
about  this  time.  He  had  never  seen 
the  Book  before.  It  taught  him  another 
lesson  than  that  of  fasts  and  vigils.  A 
brother  monk  too,  of  pious  experience, 
was  helpful.  Luther  learned  now  that 
a  man  was  saved  not  by  singing  masses, 
but  by  the  infinite  grace  of  God :  a  more 
credible  hypothesis.  He  gradually  got 
himself  founded,  as  on  the  rock.  No 
wonder  he  should  venerate  the  Bible, 
which  had  brought  this  blessed  help  to 
him.  He  prized  it  as  the  "Word  of  the 
Highest  must  be  prized  by  such  a  man. 
He  determined  to  hold  by  that;  as 
through  life  and  to  death  he  firmly  did. 

This  then  is  his  deliverance  from 
darkness,  his  final  triumph  over  dark- 
aess,  what  we  call  his  conversion ;  for 


190    Spiritual  Portrait  of  Luther, 

himself  the  most  important  of  all  epochs. 
That  he  should  now  grow  daily  in  peace 
and  clearness ;  that,  unfolding  now  the 
great  talents  and  virtues  implanted  in 
him,  he  should  rise  to  importance  in 
his  Convent,  in  his  country,  and  be 
found  more  and  more  useful  in  all  hon- 
est business  of  life,  is  a  natural  result. 
He  was  sent  on  missions  by  his  Augus- 
tine Order,  as  a  man  of  talent  and  fidel- 
ity fit  to  do  their  business  well:  the 
Elector  of  Saxony,  Friedrich,  named 
the  Wise,  a  truly  wise  and  just  prince, 
had  cast  his  eye  on  him  as  a  valuable 
person ;  made  him  Professor  in  his  new 
University  of  Wittenberg,  Preacher 
too  at  Wittenberg ;  in  both  which  ca- 
pacities, as  in  all  duties  he  did,  this  Lu- 
ther, in  the  peaceable  sphere  of  common 
life,  was  gaining  more  and  more  esteem 
with  all  good  men. 

It  was  in  his  twenty-seventh  year 
that  he  first  saw  Kome;  being  sent 


hy  Thomas  Carlyle.  191 

thither,  as  I  said,  on  mission  from  hia 
Convent.  Pope  Julius  the  Second,  and 
what  was  going  on  at  Rome,  must 
have  filled  the  mind  of  Luther  with 
amazement.  He  had  come  as  to  the 
Sacred  City,  throne  of  God's  Highpriest 
on  Earth ;  and  he  found  it — what  we 
know!  Many  thoughts  it  must  have 
given  the  man ;  many  which  we  have 
no  record  of,  which  perhaps  he  did  not 
himself  know  how  to  utter.  This  Rome, 
this  scene  of  false  priests,  clothed  not  in 
the  beauty  of  holiness,  but  in  far  other 
vesture,  is  false  :  but  what  is  it  to  Lu- 
ther ?  A  mean  man  he,  how  shall  he 
reform  a  world?  That  waa  far  from 
his  thoughts.  An  humble,  solitary  man, 
why  should  he  at  all  meddle  with  the 
world  ?  It  was  the  task  of  quite  higher 
men  than  he.  His  business  was  to 
guide  his  own  footsteps  wisely  through 
the  world.  Let  him  do  his  own  obscure 
duty  in  it  well ;  the  rest,  horrible  and 


i92    Spiritual  Portrait  of  luther, 

dismal  as  it  looks,  is  in  God's  hand,  not 
3n  his. 

It  is  curious  to  reflect  what  might 
have  been  the  issue,  had  Roman  Popery 
happened  to  pass  this  Luther  by ;  to  go 
on  in  its  great  wasteful  orbit,  and  not 
come  athwart  his  little  path,  and  force 
him  to  assault  it !  Conceivable  enough 
that,  in  this  case,  he  might  have  held 
his  peace  about  the  abuses  of  Rome; 
left  Providence,  and  God  on  high,  to 
deal  with  them !  A  modest  quiet  man; 
not  prompt  he  to  attack  irreverently 
persons  in  authority.  His  clear  task, 
as  I  say,  was  to  do  his  own  duty ;  to 
walk  wisely  in  this  world  of  confused 
wickedness,  and  save  his  own  soul  alive. 
But  the  Roman  Highpriesthood  did 
come  athwart  him :  afar  off  at  Witten- 
berg he,  Luther,  could  not  get  lived  in 
Uonesty  for  it ;  he  remonstrated,  resist- 
ed, came  to  extremity;  was  struck  at, 
•truck  again,  and  so  it  came  to  wager 


by  Thomas  Carlyle.  193 

of  battle  between  them !  This  is  worth 
attending  to  in  Luther's  history.  Per- 
haps no  man  of  so  humble,  peaceable  a 
disposition  ever  filled  the  world  with 
contention.  We  cannot  but  see  that 
he  would  have  loved  privacy,  quiet  dil- 
igence in  the  shade ;  that  it  was  against 
his  will  he  ever  became  a  notoriety. 
Notoriety :  what  would  that  do  for  him  ? 
The  goal  of  his  march  through  this 
world  was  the  Infinite  Heaven ;  an  in- 
dubitable goal  for  him :  in  a  few  years, 
he  should  either  have  attained  that,  or 
lost  it  forever !  We  will  say  nothing 
at  all,  I  think,  of  that  sorrowfullest  01 
theories,  of  its  being  some  mean  shop- 
keeper grudge,  of  the  Augustine  Monk 
against  the  Dominican,  that  first  kin- 
dled the  wrath  of  Luther,  and  produced 
the  Protestant  Eeformation.  We  will 
say  to  the  people  who  maintain  it,  if 
mdeed  any  such  exist  now:  Get  first 

into  the  sphere  of  thought  by  which  it 
it 


194    Spiritual  Portrait  of  Luther, 

. 

is  so  much  as  possible  to  judge  of  Lu- 
ther, or  of  any  man  like  Luther,  other- 
wise than  distractedly;  we  may  then 
begin  arguing  with  you. 

The  Monk  Tetzel,  sent  out  carelessly 
in  the  way  of  trade,  by  Leo  Tenth, — 
who  merely  wanted  to  raise  a  little  mo- 
ney, and  for  the  rest  seems  to  have  been 
a  Pagan  rather  than  a  Christian,  so  far 
as  he  was  anything, — arrived  at  Witten- 
berg, and  drove  his  scandalous  trade 
there.  Luther's  flock  bought  Indul- 
gences; in  the  confessional  of  his 
Church,  people  pleaded  to  him  that  they 
had  already  got  their  sins  pardoned. 
Luther,  if  he  would  not  be  found  want- 
ing at  his  own  post,  a  false  sluggaid  and 
coward  at  the  very  centre  of  the  little 
space  of  ground  that  was  his  own  and 
nc  other  man's,  had  to  step  forth  against 
Indulgences,  and  declare  aloud  that 
they  were  a  futility  and  sorrowful  mock 
ery,  that  no  man's  sins  could  be  pardoi* 


by  Thomas  Carlyle.  1U5 

ed  by  them.  It  was  the  beginning  of 
the  whole  Reformation.  We  know  how 
it  went ;  forward  from  this  first  public 
challenge  of  Tetzel,  on  the  last  day  of 
October,  1517,  through  remonstrance 
and  argument ; — spreading  ever  wider, 
rising  ever  higher ;  till  it  became  un- 
quenchable, and  enveloped  all  the  world. 
Luther's  heart's  desire  was  to  have  this 
grief  and  other  griefs  amended;  his 
thougnt  was  still  far  other  than  that  of 
introducing  separation  in  the  Church, 
or  revolting  against  the  Pope,  Father 
of  Christendom. — The  elegant  Pagan 
Pope  cared  little  about  this  Monk  and 
his  doctrines ;  wished,  however  to  have 
done  with  the  noise  of  him :  in  a  space 
of  some  three  years,  having  tried  vari- 
ous softer  methods,  he  thought  good  to 
end  it  \>jfire.  He  dooms  the  Monk's 
writings  to  be  burnt  by  the  hangman, 
%nd  his  body  to  be  sent  bound  to  Rome, 
^-probably  for  a  similar  purpose.    It 


196    Spiritual  Portrait  of  LutK&r, 

was  the  way  they  had  ended  with  Hubs, 
with  Jerome,  the,  century  before.  A 
short  argument,  fire.  Poor  Hubs  :  he 
came  to  that  Constance  Council  with 
all  imaginable  promises  and  safe-con- 
ducts ;  an  earnest,  not  rebellious  kind 
of  man :  they  laid  him  instantly  in  a 
stone  dungeon  "  three  feet  wide,  six 
feet  high,  seven  feet  long ;"  burnt  the 
true  voice  of  him  out  ot  this  world; 
choked  it  in  smoke  and  fire.  That  was 
not  well  done ! 

I,  for  one,  pardon  Luther  for  now 
altogether  revolting  against  the  Pope. 
The  elegant  Pagan,  by  this  fire-decree 
of  his,  had  kindled  into  noble  just 
wrath  the  bravest  heart  then  living  in 
this  world.  The  bravest,  if  also  one  of 
the  humblest,  peaceablest ;  it  was  now 
kindled.  These  words  of  mine,  words 
of  truth  and  soberness,  aiming  faith- 
fully,  as  human  inability  would  allow 
to  promote  God's  truth  on  Earth,  and 


by  Thomas  Carlyle.  197 

lave  men's  souls,  you,  God's  vicegerent 
on  earth,  answer  them  by  the  hangman 
and  fire  ?  You  will  burn  me  and  them, 
for  answer  to  the  God's  message  they 
strove  to  bring  you  8  You  are  not  God  'a 
vicegerent ;  you  are  another's  than  his, 
I  think !  I  take  your  Bull,  as  an  em- 
parchmented  Lie,  and  burn  it.  You 
will  do  what  you  see  good  next :  this  is 
what  I  do. — It  was  on  the  10th  of  De- 
cember 1520,  three  years  after  the  be- 
ginning of  the  business,  that  Luther 
"  with  a  great  concourse  of  people,'* 
took  this  indignant  step  of  burning  the 
Pope's  fire-decree  "  at  the  Elster-Gate 
of  Wittenberg."  Wittenberg  looked 
on  "  with  shoutings ;"  the  whole  world 
was  looking  on.  The  Pope  should  not 
have  provoked  that  "  shout ! "  It  was 
the  shout  of  the  awakening  of  nations. 
The  quiet  German  heart,  modest,  patient 
of  much,  had  at  length  got  more  than 

»t  could  bear.   Formulism,  Pagan  Pop 
11* 


198    Sjwitual  Portrait  of  Luther, 

ism,  and  other  Falsehood  and  corrupt 
Semblance  had  ruled  long  enough : 
and  here  once  more  was  a  man  found 
who  durst  tell  all  men  that  God's 
world  stood  not  on  semblances  but  on 
realities;  that  Life  was  a  truth,  and  not 
a  lie! 

At  bottom,  as  was  said  above,  we 
are  to  consider  Luther  as  a  Prophet 
Idol-breaker ;  a  bringer-back  of  men  to 
reality.  It  is  the  function  of  great  men 
and  teachers.  Mahomet  said,  These  idols 
of  yours  are  wood ;  you  put  wax  and  oil 
on  them,  the  flies  stick  on  them,  they  are 
not  God,  I  tell  you,  they  are  black  wood ! 
Luther  said  to  the  Pope,  This  thing  of 
yours  that  you  call  a  Pardon  of  Sins, 
it  is  a  bit  of  rag-paper  with  ink.  It  is 
nothing  else;  it,  and  so  much  like  it, 
is  nothing  else.  God  alone  can  pardon 
tins.  Popeship,  spiritual  Fatherhood 
of  God's  Church,  is  that  a  vain  sem 
blance,  of  cloth  and  parchment  ?    It  ii 


by  Thomas  Cariyve.  199 

an  awful  fact.  God's  Church  is  not  a 
leniblance,  Heaven  and  Hell  are  not 
semblances.  I  stand  on  this,  since  you 
drive  me  to  it.  Standing  on  this,  I  a 
poor  German  Monk  am  stronger  than 
you  all.  I  stand  solitary,  friendless, 
but  on  God's  Truth;  you  with  your 
tiaras,  triple-hats,  with  your  treasuries 
and  armories,  thunders  spiritual  and 
temporal,  stand  on  the  Devil's  Lie,  and 
are  not  so  strong ! 

The  Diet  of  Worms,  Luther's  appear- 
ance there  on  the  17th  of  April,  1521, 
may  be  considered  as  the  greatest  scene 
in  Modern  European  History ;  the  point, 
indeed,  from  which  the  whole  subse- 
quent history  of  civilization  takes  its 
rise.  After  multiplied  negotiations, 
disputations,  it  had  come  to  this.  The 
young  Emperor  Charles  Fifth,  with  all 
the  Princes  of  Germany,  Papal  nuncios, 
dignitaries  spiritual  and  temporal,  are 
assembled  there:  Luther  is  to  appear 


200    Spiritual  Pcrtrwit  of  Luther, 

and  answer  for  himself,  whether  he  will 
recant  or  not.  Tlje  world's  pomp  and 
power  sits  there  on  this  hand :  on  that, 
stands  up  for  God's  Truth,  one  man,  the 
poor  miner  Hans  Luther's  son.  Friends 
had  reminded  him  of  Huss,  advised  him 
not  to  go ;  he  would  not  be  advised.  A 
large  company  of  friends  rode  out  to 
meet  him,  with  still  more  earnest  warn- 
ings; he  answered,  "Were  there  as 
many  Devils  in  Worms  as  there  are 
roof-tiles,  I  would  on."  The  people,  on 
the  morrow,  as  he  went  to  the  Hall  of 
the  Diet,  crowded  the  windows  and 
housetops,  some  of  them  calling  out  to 
him,  in  solemn  words,  not  to  recant : 
"  Whosoever  denieth  me  before  men ! " 
they  cried  to  him,  —  as  in  a  kind  of 
solemn  petition  and  adjuration.  Was 
it  not  in  reality  our  petition  too,  the 
petition  of  the  whole  world,  lying  in 
dark  bondage  of  soul,  paralysed  undei 
a  black  spectral  Nightmare  and  triple* 


by  Thomas  Carlyle.  201 

hatted  Chimera,  calling  itself  Father  in 
God,  and  what  not :  "  Free  us ;  it  rests 
with  thee ;  desert  us  not ! "  Luther  did 
not  desert  us.  His  speech,  of  two  hours, 
distinguished  itself  by  its  respectful, 
wise  and  honest  tone;  submissive  to 
whatsoever  could  lawfully  claim  sub- 
mission, not  submissive  to  any  more 
than  that.  His  writings,  he  said,  were 
partly  his  own,  partly  derived  from  the 
Word  of  God.  As  to  what  was  his  own, 
human  infirmity  entered  into  it;  un- 
guarded anger,  blindness,  many  things 
doubtless  which  it  were  a  blessing  for 
him  could  he  abolish  altogether.  But 
as  to  what  stood  on  sound  truth  and  the 
"Word  of  God,  he  could  not  recant  it. 
How  could  he?  "  Confute  me,"  he 
concluded,  "  by  proofs  of  Scripture,  or 
else  by  plain  just  arguments :  I  cannot 
decant  otherwise.  For  it  is  neither  safe 
Qor  prudent  to  do  aught  against  con* 
•cience.     Here  stand  I;   I  can  do  no 


202    Spiritual  Portrait  of  Zuther, 

other:  God  assist  me!" — It  is,  as  we 
say,  the  greatest  moment  in  the  Modern 
History  of  Men.  English  Puritanism, 
England  and  its  Parliaments,  Americas, 
and  vast  work  these  two  centuries; 
French  Revolution,  Europe  and  its 
work  everywhere  at  present :  the  germ 
of  it  all  lay  there :  had  Luther  in  that 
moment  done  other,  it  had  all  been 
otherwise !  The  European  World  was 
asking  him :  Am  I  to  sink  ever  lower 
into  falsehood,  stagnant  putrescence, 
loathsome  accursed  death;  or,  with 
whatever  paroxysm,  to  cast  the  false- 
hoods out  of  me,  and  be  cured  and 
live? 

Great  wars,  contentions  and  disunion 
followed  out  of  this  Reformation ;  which 
last  down  to  our  day,  and  are  yet  fai 
from  ended.  Great  talk  and  crimina- 
tion has  been  made  about  these.  They 
we  lamentable,  undeniable;  but  afte 


hy  Thomas  Carlyle.  203 

all,  what  has  Luther  or  his  cause  to  do 
with  them  ?  It  seems  strange  reasoning 
to  charge  the  Reformation  with  all  this. 
When  Hercules  turned  the  purifying 
river  into  King  Augeas's  stables,  I  have 
no  doubt  the  confusion  that  resulted 
was  considerable  all  around :  but  I  think 
it  was  not  Hercules's  blame;  it  was 
some  other's  blame !  The  Reformation 
might  bring  what  results  it  liked  when 
it  came,  but  the  Reformation  simply 
could  not  help  coming.  To  all  Popes 
and  Popes's  advocates,  expostulating, 
lamenting  and  accusing,  the  answer  of 
the  world  is :  Once  for  all,  your  Pope- 
hood  has  become  untrue.  No  matter 
how  good  it  was,  how  good  you  say  it 
Is,  we  cannot  believe  it ;  the  light  of  our 
whole  mind,  given  us  to  walk  by  from 
tEeaven  above,  finds  it  henceforth  a 
thing  unbelievable.  We  will  not  be- 
lieve it,  we  will  not  try  to  believe  it, — 
we  dare  not!     The  thing  is  untrue; 


204    Spiritual  Portrait  of  Luther, 

,  L-. 

we  were  traitors  against  the  Giver  of  all 
Truth,  if  we  durst  ^pretend  to  think  it 
true.  Away  with  it ;  let  whatsoever  likes 
come  in  the  place  of  it ;  with  it  we  can 
have  no  farther  trade !  Luther  and  his 
Protestantism  is  not  responsible  for 
wars;  the  false  Simulacra  that  forced 
him  to  protest,  they  are  responsible. 
Luther  did  what  every  man  that  God 
has  made  has  not  only  the  right, 
but  lies  under  the  sacred  duty  to  do : 
answered  a  Falsehood  when  it  ques- 
tioned him,  Dost  thou  believe  me? — 
No! — At  what  cost  soever,  without 
counting  of  costs,  this  thing  behoved  to 
be  done.  Union,  organization  spiritual 
and  material,  a  far  nobler  than  any 
Popedom  or  Feudalism  in  their  truest 
days,  I  never  doubt,  is  coming  for  the 
world;  sure  to  come.  But  on  Fact 
alone,  not  on  Semblance  and  Simula- 
crum, will  it  be  able  either  to  come,  or  tc 
stand  when  come.  With  union  ground 


by  Thomas  Carlyle.  205 

©d  on  falsehood,  and  ordering  us  to 
speak  and  act  lies,  we  will  not  have 
anything  to  do.  Peace  %  A  brutal  leth» 
argy  is  peaceable,  the  noisome  grave 
is  peaceable.  We  hope  for  a  living 
peace,  not  a  dead  one ! 

And  yet,  in  prizing  justly  the  indis- 
pensable blessings  of  the  New,  let  us 
not  be  unjust  to  the  Old.  The  Old  was 
true,  if  it  no  longer  is.  In  Dante's  days 
it  needed  no  sophistry,  self-blinding  or 
other  dishonesty,  to  get  itself  reckon- 
ed true.  It  was  good  then ;  nay  there 
is  in  the  soul  of  it  a  deathless  good. 
The  cry  of  "No  Popery,"  is  foolish 
enough  in  these  days.  The  speculation 
that  Popery  is  on  the  increase,  building 
uew  chapels,  and  so  forth,  may  pass  for 
one  of  the  idlest  ever  started.  Yery  curi- 
ous :  to  count  up  a  few  Popish  chapels, 
listen  to  a  few  Protestant  logic-chop- 
pings, — to  much  dull-droning  drowsy 
inanity  that  still  calls  itself  Protestant, 

18 


206    Spiritual  Portrait  of  Luther, 

and  say:  See,  Protestantism  is  dead) 
Popism  is  more  alive  than  it,  will  be 
alive  after  it! — Drowsy  inanities,  not 
a  few,  that  call  themselves  Protestant 
are  dead;  but  Protestantism  has  not 
died  yet,  that  I  hear  of!  Protestantism, 
if  we  will  look,  has  in  these  days  pro- 
duced its  Goethe,  its  Napoleon ;  Ger- 
man Literature  and  the  French  Revo- 
lution; rather  considerable  signs  of  life! 
Nay,  at  bottom,  what  else  is  alive  out 
Protestantism?  The  life  of  most  else 
that  one  meets  is  a  galvanic  one  merely 
— not  a  pleasant,  not  a  lasting  sort  of 
life! 

Popery  can  build  new  chapels ;  wel- 
come to  do  so,  to  all  lengths.  Popery 
cannot  come  back,  any  more  than  Pa- 
ganism can, — which  also  still  lingers  in 
Bome  countries.  But,  indeed,  it  is  with 
these  things,  as  with  the  ebbing  of  the 
lea :  you  look  at  the  waves  oscillating 
hither,  thither  on  the  beach ;  for  min- 


by  Thomas  Carlyle.  207 

utes  you  cannot  tell  how  it  is  going ; 
look  in  half  an  honr  where  it  is, — look 
in  half  a  century  where  your  Popehood 
is !  Alas,  would  there  were  no  greater 
danger  to  our  Europe  than  the  poor  old 
Pope's  revival !  Thor  may  as  soon  try 
to  revive. — And  withal  this  oscillation 
has  a  meaning.  The  poor  old  Pope- 
hood  will  not  die  away  entirely,  as  Thor 
has  done,  for  some  time  yet ;  nor  ought 
it.  We  may  say,  the  Old  never  dies 
till  this  happen,  till  all  the  soul  of  good 
that  was  in  it  have  got  itself  transfused 
into  the  practical  New.  "While  a  good 
work  remains  capable  of  being  done  by 
the  Romish  form ;  or,  what  is  inclusive 
of  all,  while  a  pious  Ufe  remains  capa- 
ble of  being  led  by  it,  just  so  long,  if 
we  consider,  will  this  or  the  other  hu- 
man soul  adopt  it,  go  about  as  a  living 
witness  of  it.  So  long  it  will  obtrude 
itself  on  the  eye  of  us  who  reject  it, 
.ill  we  in  our  practice  too  have  appro- 


208     Spiritual  Portrait  of  Luther, 

priated  whatsoever  of  truth  was  in  it 
Then,  but  also  not  till  then,  it  will  have 
no  charm  more  for  any  man.  It  lasts 
here  for  a  purpose.  Let  it  last  as  *ong 
as  it  can. 

Of  Luther  1  will  add  now,  in  refer- 
ence to  all  these  wars  and  bloodshed, 
the  noticeable  fact  that  none  of  them 
began  so  long  as  he  continued  living. 
The  controversy  did  not  get  to  fighting 
so  long  as  he  was  there.  To  me  it  is 
proof  of  his  greatness  in  all  senses,  this 
fact.  How  seldom  do  we  find  a  man 
that  has  stirred  up  some  vast  commo- 
tion, who  does  not  himself  perish,  swept 
away  in  it !  Such  is  the  usual  course 
of  revolutionists.  Luther  continued,  in 
»  good  degree,  sovereign  of  this  greatest 
revolution;  all  Protestants,  of  what 
rank  or  function  soever,  looking  much 
to  him  for  guidance:  and  he  held  it 
peaceable,  continued  firm  at  the  centre 


hy  Thomas  Carh/le.  209 

of  it.  A  man  to  do  this  must  have  a 
kingly  faculty:  he  must  have  the  gift 
to  discern  at  all  turns  where  the  true 
heart  of  the  matter  lies,  and  to  plant 
himself  courageously  on  that,  as  a 
strong  true  man,  that  other  true  men 
may  rally  round  him  there.  He  will 
not  continue  leader  of  men  otherwise. 
Luther's  clear  deep  force  of  judgment, 
bis  force  of  all  sorts,  of  silence,  of  toler- 
ance and  moderation,  among  others, 
are  very  notable  in  these  circumstances. 
Tolerance,  I  say ;  a  very  genuine  kind 
of  tolerance :  he  distinguishes  what  is 
essential  and  what  is  not ;  the  unessen- 
tial may  go  very  much  as  it  will.  A 
complaint  comes  to  him  that  such  and 
such  a  Reformed  Preacher  "will  not 
preach  without  a  cassock."  Well,  an 
ewers  Luther,  what  harm  will  a  cassock 
do  the  man  ?  "  Let  him  have  a  cassock 
to  preach  in ;  let  him  have  three  cas- 
socks if  he  find  benefit  in  them !"  His 
18* 


210    Spiritual  Portrait  of  Luther, 

conduct  in  the  matter  of  Carlstadt'f 
wild  image-breaking;  of  the  Anabap- 
tists; of  the  Peasants'  War,  shows  a 
noble  strength,  very  different  from  spas- 
modic violence.  With  sure  prompt  in- 
sight he  discriminates  what  is  what :  a 
strong  just  man,  he  speaks  forth  what 
is  the  wise  course,  and  all  men  follow 
him  in  that.  Luther's  Written  Works 
give  similar  testimony  of  him.  The  dia- 
lect of  these  speculations  is  now  grown 
obsolete  for  us ;  but  one  still  reads  them 
with  a  singular  attraction.  And  in- 
deed the  mere  grammatical  diction  is 
still  legible  enough ;  Luther's  merit  in 
literary  history  is  of  the  greatest :  his 
dialect  became  the  language  of  all  writ 
ing.  They  are  not  well  written,  these 
Four-and-twenty  Quartos  of  his ;  written 
hastily,  with  quite  other  than  literary 
objects.  But  in  no  Books  have  I  found 
more  robust,  genuine,  I  will  say  no* 
ole  faculty  of  a  man  than  in  these.    A 


by  Thomas  Carlyle.  211 

rugged  honesty,  homeliness,  simplicity; 
a  rugged  sterling  sense  and  strength. 
He  flashes  out  illumination  from  him ; 
his  smiting  idiomatic  phrases  seem  to 
cleave  into  the  very  secret  of  the  mat- 
ter. Good  humor  too,  nay  tender  affec- 
tion, nobleness,  and  depth:  this  man 
could  have  been  a  Poet  too  !  He  had 
to  work  an  Epic  Poem,  not  write  one. 
I  call  him  a  great  Thinker ;  as  indeed 
his  greatness  of  heart  already  betokens 
that. 

Eichter  says  of  Luther's  words,  "  his 
words  are  half  battles."  They  may  be 
called  so.  The  essential  quality  of  him 
was,  that  he  could  fight  and  conquer ; 
that  he  was  a  right  piece  of  human 
Valor.  ~No  more  valiant  man,  no  mor- 
tal heart  to  be  called  braver,  that  one 
has  record  of,  ever  lived  in  that  Teu- 
tonic Kindred,  whose  character  is  ^alor. 
His  defiance  of  the  "Devils  "  in  Worms 
#as  not  a  mere  boast,  as  the  like  might 


212    Spiritual  Portrait  of  Luther, 

be  if  now  spoken.  It  was  a  faith  of 
Luther's  that  there  were  Devils,  spirit- 
ual denizens  of  the  Pit,  continually  be- 
setting men.  Many  times,  in  his  writ- 
ings, this  turns  up ;  and  a  most  small 
Bneer  has  been  grounded  on  it  by  some. 
In  the  room  of  the  Wartburg  where  he 
sat  translating  the  Bible,  they  still  show 
you  a  black  spot  on  the  wall ;  the  strange 
memorial  of  one  of  these  conflicts.  Lu- 
ther sat  translating  one  of  the  Psalms ; 
he  was  worn  down  with  long  labor, 
with  sickness,  abstinence  from  food: 
there  rose  before  him  some  hideous  in- 
definable Image,  which  he  took  for  the 
Evil  One,  to  forbid  his  work :  Luther 
started  up,  with  fiend-defiance ;  flung 
his  inkstand  at  the  spectre,  and  it  dis- 
appeared !  The  spot  still  remains  there; 
a  curious  monument  of  several  things. 
Any  apothecary's  apprentice  can  now 
tell  us  what  we  are  to  think  of  this  ap- 
parition, in  a  scientific  sense :  but  th« 


by  Thomas  Carlyle.  213 

man's  heart  that  dare  rise  defiant,  face 
to  face,  against  Hell  itself,  can  give  no 
higher  proof  of  fearlessness.  The  thing 
he  will  quail  before,  exists  not  on  this 
Earth  or  under  it. — Fearless  enough! 
H  The  Devil  is  aware,"  writes  he  on  one 
occasion,  "  that  this  does  not  proceed 
out  of  fear  in  me.  I  have  seen  and  de- 
fied innumerable  Devils.  Duke  George," 
of  Leipzig,  a  great  enemy  of  his,  "  Duke 
George  is  not  equal  to  one  Devil," — far 
short  of  a  Devil !  "  If  I  had  business 
at  Leipzig,  I  would  ride  into  Leipzig, 
though  it  rained  Duke  Georges  for  nine 
days  running."  What  a  reservoir  of 
Dukes  to  ride  into ! 

At  the  same  time,  they  err  greatly 
who  imagine  that  this  man's  courage 
was  ferocity,  mere  coarse  disobedient 
obstinacy  and  savagery,  as  many  do. 
Far  from  that.  There  may  be  an  ab- 
sence of  fear  which  arises  from  the  ab- 
ience  of  thought  or  affection,  from  the 


214    Spiritual  Portrait  of  Luther, 

presence  of  hatred  and  stupid  fury. 
We  do  not  value  the  courage  of  the 
tiger  highly !  With  Luther  it  was  far 
otherwise ;  no  accusation  could  be  more 
unjust  than  this  of  mere  ferocious  vio- 
lence brought  against  him.  A  most 
gentle  heart  withal,  full  of  pity  and 
love,  as  indeed  the  truly  valiant  heart 
ever  is.  The  tiger  before  a  stronger  foe 
— flies :  the  tiger  is  not  what  we  call 
valiant,  only  fierce  and  cruel.  I  know 
few  things  more  touching  than  those 
soft  breathings  of  affection,  soft  as  a 
child's  or  a  mother's,  in  this  great  wild 
heart  of  Luther.  So  honest,  unadul- 
terated with  any  cant ;  homely,  rude  in 
their  utterance ;  pure  as  water  welling 
from  the  rock.  What,  in  fact,  was  all 
that  downpressed  mood  of  despair  and 
reprobation,  which  we  saw  in  his  youth 
but  the  outcome  of  preeminent  thought- 
ful gentleness,  affections  too  keen  and 
line?     It  is  the  course  such  men  as 


by  Tho?/ias  Ca/rlyle.  215 

Ihe  poor  Poet  Cowper  fall  into.  Lu- 
ther to  a  slight  observer,  might  have 
seemed  a  timid,  weak  man ;  modesty, 
affectionate  shrinking  tenderness  the 
chief  distinction  of  him.  It  is  a  noble 
valor  which  is  roused  in  a  heart  like 
this,  once  stirred  up  into  defiance,  all 
kindled  into  a  heavenly  blaze. 

In  Luther's  Table-Talk^  a  posthumous 
Book  of  anecdotes  and  sayings  collected 
by  his  friends,  the  most  interesting  now 
of  all  the  Books  proceeding  from  him, 
we  have  many  beautiful  unconscious 
displays  of  the  man,  and  what  sort  of 
nature  he  had.  His  behavior  at  the 
deathbed  of  his  little  Daughter,  so  still, 
so  great  and  loving,  is  among  the  most 
affecting  things.  He  is  resigned  that 
his  little  Magdalene  should  die,  yet 
longs  inexpressibly  that  she  might  live ; 
—follows  in  awe-struck  thought,  the 
flight  of  her  little  soul  through  those 
unknown   realms.     Awestruck;  most 


216    Spiritual  Portrait  of  Luther, 

heartfelt,  we  can  see ;  and  sincere, — foi 
after  all  dogmatic  creeds  and  articles, 
he  feels  what  nothing  it  is  that  we  know, 
or  can  know :  His  little  Magdalene  shall 
be  with  God,  as  God  wills ;  for  Luther 
too  that  is  all ;  Islam  is  all. 

Once,  he  looks  out  from  his  solitary 
Patmos,  the  Castle  of  Coburg,  in  the 
middle  of  the  night :  The  great  vault  of 
Immensity,  long  nights  of  clouds  sailing 
through  it, — dumb,  gaunt,  huge : — who 
supports  all  that  ?  "  None  ever  saw  the 
pillars  of  it ;  yet  it  is  supported."  God 
supports  it.  We  must  know  that  God 
is  great,  that  God  is  good ;  and  trust, 
where  we  cannot  see. — Returning  home 
from  Leipzig  once,  he  is  struck  by  the 
beauty  of  the  harvest-fields:  How  it 
stands,  that  golden  yellow  corn,  on  its 
fair  taper  stem,  its  golden  head  bent, 
all  rich  and  waving  there, — the  meek 
Earth,  at  God's  kind  bidding,  has  pro» 
duced  it  once  again ;  the  bread  of  man ' 


by  Thomas  Cariyle.  217 

In  the  garden  at  Wittenberg  one  even- 
ing at  sunset,  a  little  bird  has  perched 
for  the  night :  That  little  bird,  says  Lu- 
ther, above  it  are  the  stars  and  deep 
Heaven  of  worlds ;  yet  it  has  folded  its 
little  wings;  gone  trustfully  to  rest 
there  as  in  its  home :  the  Maker  of  it 
has  given  it  too  a  home ! — Neither  are 
mirthful  turns  wanting :  there  is  a  great 
free  human  heart  in  this  man.  The 
common  speech  of  him  has  a  rugged 
nobleness,  idiomatic,  expressive,  genu- 
ine ;  gleams  here  and  there  with  beau- 
tiful poetic  tints.  One  feels  him  to  be 
a  great  brother  man.  His  love  of  Music, 
indeed,  is  not  this,  as  it  were,  the  sum- 
mary of  all  these  affections  in  him? 
Many  a  wild  unutterability  he  spoke 
forth  from  him  in  the  tones  of  his  flute. 
The  Devils  fled  from  his  flute,  he  says. 
Death-defiance  on  the  one  hand,  and 
mich  love  of  music  on  the  other ;  I  could 
eall  these  the  two  opposite  poles  of  a 

19 


218    Spiritual  Portrait  of  Jsuther, 

great  soul ;  between  these  two  all  great 
things  had  room. 

Luther's  face  is*  to  me  expressive  of 
him ;  in  Kranach's  best  portraits  I  find 
the  true  Luther.  A  rude,  plebeian  face; 
with  its  huge  crag-like  brows  and  bones, 
the  emblem  of  rugged  energy;  at  first, 
almost  a  repulsive  face.  Yet  in  the 
eyes  especially  there  is  a  wild  silent 
sorrow ;  an  unnamable  melancholy,  the 
element  of  all  gentle  and  fine  affections ; 
giving  to  the  rest  the  true  stamp  of  no- 
bleness. Laughter  was  in  this  Luther, 
as  we  said ;  but  tears  also  were  there. 
Tears  also  were  appointed  him ;  tears 
and  hard  toil.  The  basis  of  his  life  was 
Sadness,  Earnestness.  In  his  latter  days, 
after  all  triumphs  and  victories,  he  ex- 
presses himself  heartily  weary  of  living; 
he  considers  that  God  alone  can  and 
will  regulate  the  course  things  are  tak- 
ing, and  that  perhaps  the  Day  of  Judg 
ment  is  not  far.     As  for  him,  he  longa 


hy  Thomas  Carlyle.  21$ 

for  one  thing :  that  God  would  release 
him  from  his  labor,  and  let  him  depart 
and  be  at  rest.  They  understand  little 
of  the  man  who  cite  this  in  ^'scredit  of 
him! — I  will  call  this  Luther  a  true 
Great  Man ;  great  in  intellect,  in  cour- 
age, affection  and  integrity ;  one  of  our 
most  lovable  and  precious  men.  Great, 
not  as  a  hewn  obelisk ;  but  as  an  Alpine 
mountain, — so  simple,  honest,  sponta- 
neous, not  setting  up  to  be  great  at  all ; 
there  for  quite  another  purpose  than 
being  great!  Ah  yes,  unsubduable 
granite,  piercing  far  and  wide  into  the 
Heavens ;  yet  in  the  clefts  of  it  foun- 
tains, green  beautiful  valleys  with  flow- 
ers !  A  right  Spiritual  Hero  and  Pro- 
phet ;  once  more,  a  true  Son  of  Nature 
And  Fact,  for  whom  these  centuries, 
and  many  that  are  to  come  yet,  will  be 
thankful  to  Heaven. 


APPENDIX. 


REVERSE-SIDE  OF  THE  PICTURE 

By  SIR  WM.  HAMILTON.* 


The  following  hasty  anthology  ol 
some  of  Luther's  opinions,  and,  in  his 
own  words,  literally  translated,  may 
render  it  doubtful,  whether  the  heresies 
of  his  followers  are  to  be  traced  no 
higher  than  to  the  relaxation,  (not  a 
century  old,)  of  religious  tests.  We 
must  not,  however,  set  down  Luther 
for  a  rationalist,  howbeit  the  rational- 
ists may  adduce  Luther's  practice  as 
the  precedent  of  their  own.  For,  while 
far  from  erring  through  any  overween 

1  Discussions  on  Philosophy  and  Literature. 
Education  and  University  Reform,  second  Loi> 
don  edition,  p.  505,  et  sequent. 
19* 


Appendix, 


ing  reliance  on  the  powers  of  human 
reason  in  general,,  still  Luther  was  be* 
trayed  into  corresponding  extravagan- 
cies by  an  assurance  of  his  personal  in- 
spiration, of  which  he  was,  indeed,  no 
[ess  confident  than  of  his  ability  to  per- 
form miracles.  He  disclaimed  the  Pope, 
he  spurned  the  Church,  but  varying  in 
almost  all  else,  he  never  doubted  of  his 
own  infallibility.  He  thus  piously 
regarded  himself  as  the  authoritative 
judge,  both  of  the  meaning,  and  of  the 
authenticity  of  Scripture.  Yet  though 
it  is  our  duty,  in  refuting  an  untenable 
hypothesis,  to  allege  various  untenable 
and  even  obnoxious  opinions  of  the 
great  reformer ;  so  far  from  entertain- 
ing any  dislike  of  Luther,  we  admire 
him,  with  all  his  aberrations,  (for  he 
never  paltered  with  the  truth,)  not  only 
as  ore  of  the  ablest,  but  as  one  of  the 
best  of  men.  Only,  in  renouncing, 
with  Luther,  the  Pope,  we  are  cer- 


Appendix.  223 

tainly  not  willing  to  make  a  Pope  of 
Luther.2 

8  In  stating  the  troth  regarding  Luther,  I 
should  regret  to  be  thought  by  any,  to  utter 
aught  in  disparagement  of  Protestantism.  Pro- 
testantism is  not  the  doctrine  of  this  or  that 
individual  Protestant ;  and  with  reference  even 
to  the  man  Luther,  I  am  sorry  that  it  is  here 
incumbent  on  me,  to  notice  his  faults  without 
dwelling  on  his  virtues.  That  what  is  now  to 
be  alleged,  should  not  long  ago  have  been  famil- 
iar to  all,  only  shows  that  Church  History  has 
not  yet  been  written,  as  alone  written  it  ought  to 
be, — with  truth  and  knowledge.  Church  History 
falsely  written,  is  a  school  of  vain  glory,  hatred, 
and  uncharitableness ;  truly  written,  it  is  a  dis- 
cipline of  humility,  of  charity,  of  mutual  love. 
Written  in  a  veracious  and  unsectarian  spirit, 
every  religious  community  is  herein  taught,  thai 
it  has  cause  enough  to  blush  for  its  adherents, 
"  Iliacos  intra  muros  peccatur  et  extra ;" 

gad  that  others,  though  none  be  perfect,  are  all 
•ntitled  to  respect,  as  all  reflections,  though 
partial  reflections,  of  the  truth.  Ecclesiastical 
History,  indeed,  may  and  ought  to  be  the  on* 


224  Appendix. 

L  Speculative  Theology.  —  "  God 
pleaseth  you  when  he  crowns  the  un- 
worthy ;  he  ought  not  to  displease  you 
when  he  damns  the  innocent."  [Jena 
Latin,  iii.  f.  207.]— "All  things  take 
place  by  the  eternal  and  invariable  will 
of  God,  who  [which]  blasts  and  shat- 
ters in  pieces  the  freedom  of  the  human 
will."  [F.  165.]—"  God  creates  in  us 
the  evil,  in  like  manner  as  the  good. 
[Ff.  170,  216.]— "The  high  perfection 
of  faith,8  is  to  believe  that  God  is  just, 

best,  as  the  one  unexclusive,  application  of  reli- 
gious principle  to  practice, — at  once  Oatholio 
and  Protestant  and  Christian;  vindicating  to 
the  Church  at  large  its  inheritance  of  authority; 
manifesting  the  fallibility  of  all  human  agents, 
nor  substituting  merely  one  papacy  for  another; 
whilst  yielding  "  Christ  the  truth,"  as  its  last 
and  dominant  result. 

*  Assurance,  Personal  Assurance,  Special 
Faith,  {the  feeling  of  certainty  that  God  is  pro- 
oitious  to  me, — that  my  sins  are  forgiven,  Fidu. 
wa,  Plerophoria  Fidei,  Fides  Specialis,)  —  A» 


Appendix.  225 

notwithstanding  that,  by  his  will  he 

entrance  was  long  universally  held  in  the  Pro- 
testant  communities  to  be  the  criterion  and 
condition  of  a  true  or  saving  Faith.  Luther 
declares,  that,  "  he  who  hath  not  Assurance 
spews  Faith  out;"  and  Melancthon,  that  "As- 
surance is  the  discriminating  line  of  Christianity 
from  Heathenism."  Assurance  is,  indeed,  the 
punctum  saliens  of  Luther's  system ;  and  an  un- 
acquaintance  with  this,  his  great  central  doo- 
trine,  is  one  prime  cause  of  the  chronic  misre- 
presentation which  runs  through  our  recent 
histories  of  Luther  and  the  Reformation.  As- 
surance is  no  less  strenuously  maintained  by 
Calvin ;  is  held  even  by  Arminius ;  and  stands, 
essentially,  part  and  parcel  of  all  the  Confessions 
of  all  the  Churches  of  the  Reformation,  down 
to  the  "Westminster  Assembly.  In  that  Synod 
Assurance  was,  in  Protestantism,  for  the  first, 
indeed  only,  time  formally  declared  "  not  to  oe 
of  the  essence  of  Faith ;"  and  accordingly,  the 
Scottish  General  Assembly  has,  subsequently, 
once  and  again,  condemned  and  deposed  the 
holders  of  this,  the  doctrine  of  Luther,  of  Cal- 
vin, of  ali  the  other  Churches  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, and  of  the  older  Scottish  Church  itseli 


226  A  pj)  enaix. 

renders  us  necessarily  damnable,  and 

In  the  English,  and,  more  articulately,  in  the 
Irish  Establishment,  Assurance  still  stands  a 
necessary  tenet  of  ecclesiastical  belief.  (See 
Homilies,  Book  I.,  Number  iii.,  Part  3,  specialty 
referred  to  in  the  Eleventh  of  the  Thirty-niru 
Articles,  and  Number  iv.,  Parts  1  and  3 ;  like- 
vise  the  Sixth  Lambeth  Article.)  Assurance 
iras  consequently  held  by  all  the  older  Anglican 
Churchmen,  of  whom  Hooker  may  stand  for 
the  example :  but  Assurance  is  now  openly  dis- 
avowed, without  scruple,  by  Anglican  Church- 
men high  and  low,  when  apprehended ;  but  o* 
these,  many,  like  Mr.  Hare,  are  blissfully  incog- 
nisant  of  the  opinion,  its  import,  its  history, 
and  even  its  name. 

This  dogma,  with  its  fortune,  past  and  pre- 
sent, affords  indeed  a  series  of  the  most  curious 
contrasts. — For  it  is  curious,  that  this  cardinal 
point  of  Luther's  doctrine  should,  without  ex- 
ception, have  been  constituted  into  the  funda- 
mental principle  of  all  the  Churches  of  the  Re- 
formation,  and  as  their  common  and  uncatholio 
doctrine,  have  been  explicitly  condemned  at 
Trent. — Again,  it  is  curious,  that  this  common 
and  differential  doctrine  of  the  Churches  of  the 


App  endix.  227 

aeemeth  to  find  pleasure  in  the  torments 

Reformation,  should  now  be  abandoned  virtu- 
ally in,  or  formally  by,  all  these  Churches 
themselves. — Again,  it  is  curious,  that  Protest- 
tuts  should  now  generally  profess  the  countei 
Joctrine,  asserted  at  Trent  in  condemnation  oj 
their  peculiar  principle. — Again,  it  is  curioue 
that  this  most  important  variation  in  the  faith 
of  Protestants,  as,  in  fact,  a  gravitation  of  Pro- 
testantism back  towards  Catholicity,  should 
have  been  overlooked,  as  indeed  in  his  days 
undeveloped,  by  the  keen-eyed  author  of  "  The 
History  of  the  Variations  of  the  Protestant 
Churches." — Finally,  it  is  curious,  that,  though 
now  fully  developed,  this  central  approximation 
of  Protestantism  to  Catholicity  should  not,  as 
far  as  I  know,  have  been  signalized  by  any 
theologian,  Protestant  or  Catholic;  whilst  the 
Protestant  symbol,  (Fides  sola  justificat — Faith 
alone  justifies,)  though  now  eviscerated  of  its 
eal  import,  and  now  only  manifesting  an  unim- 
portant difference  of  expression,  is  still  supposed 
to  mark  the  discrimination  of  the  two  religious 
denominations.  For  both  agree,  that  the  three 
tieavenly  virtues  must  all  concur  to  salvation ; 
tnd  they  only  differ,  whether  Faith,  as  a  word, 


228  Appendix. 

of  the  miserable."    [F.  171.)    All  from 
the  treatise  De  Servo  Arbitrio.] 
II.)  Practical  Theology.4  — "  We." 

does  or  does  not  involve  Hope  and  Charity. 
This  misprision  would  have  been  avoided  had 
Luther  and  Calvin  only  said — Fiducia  sola  jus- 
tificat — Assurance  alone  justifies ;  for  on  their 
doctrine  Assurance  was  convertible  with  true 
Faith,  and  true  Faith  implied  the  other  Chris- 
tian graces.  But  this  primary  and  peculiar 
doctrine  of  the  Reformation  is  now  harmoni- 
ously condemned  by  Catholics  and  Protestants 
in  unison. 

*  In  a  moral  relation,  perhaps,  more  than  in 
any  other,  the  history  of  Luther  and  the  Refor- 
mation has  been  written,  only  as  a  coDventional 
romance ;  and  I  know  not,  whether  Catholics 
or  Protestants  have  wandered  the  widest  from 
the  line  of  truth.  Of  the  following  general 
(acts  I  hold  superfluous  proof. 

1°,  After  the  religious  revolution  in  Protestant 
Germany,  there  began  and  long  prevailed  a 
fearful  dissolution  of  morals.  The  burthen  of 
Luther's  lamentation  is :  "  Under  the  Papacy, 
ire  were  bad.  but  under  the  Gospel,  we  art 
•even — yea  more  than  seven  times  worse ;" — a 


App  end  ix.  229 

(Martin  Luther  Philippus,  MvLmcthon 

contrast  vhich  he  usually  signalises  by  the  pa 
rable  of  the  "  one  unclean  spirit  returning  and 
taking  with  him  seven  other  spirits,  each  more 
wicked  than  himself." 

2o,  Of  this  moral  corruption  there  were  two 
principal  foci, — Wittemberg  and  Hesse. — Short- 
ly before  his  death,  Luther  abandoning,  calls 
Wittemberg  "  a  Sodom;"  and  not  long  after  it, 
Wittemberg  is  formally  branded  by  Simon  Mu- 
saeus,  the  Professor  of  Theology  and  Superin- 
tendent of  Jena,  another  Protestant,  another 
German,  another  Saxon  University,  as  "  fcetida 
cloaca  Diaboli." — Touching  Hesse,  the  celebrat- 
ed Walther  writing  to  Bullinger,  before  the 
middle  of  the  century,  says  of  its  centre  of 
learning  and  religious  education :  —  "In  Mar- 
burg the  rule  of  morals  is  such,  as  Bacchus 
would  prescribe  to  his  Maenads,  and  Venus  to 
her  Cupids ;"  while  from  Marburg  and  the  chief 
ivhair  of  Theology  in  that  Uuiversity,  (what  is 
laknown  to  his  biographers,)  the  immorality 
of  the  natives  had  previously  determined,  as  hf 
writes,  the  pious  Lambert  of  Avignon  to  fly 
Ms  flight  being,  however,  arrested  by  his  sud 
ten  death. 

ao 


230  A  p  p  endix. 

Martin   Bucer^  Dionysius    Melander^ 

8°,  The  cause  of  this  demoralization  is  not  to 
be  sought  for  in  the  religious  revolution  itself; 
for  in  Switzerland  and  other  countries  the  relig- 
ious revolution  resulted  in  an  increased  sobri- 
ety and  continence.  In  Protestant  Germany, 
and  particularly  in  Saxony,  we  need  look  no 
farther  than  to  the  moral  doctrine  of  the 
divines ; 

"  Hoc  fonte  derivata  clades 
In  patriam  populumque  fluxit :" 

but  in  Hesse,  beside  that  influence,  we  must 
take  into  account  the  pattern  of  manners  set  to 
his  subjects  by  the  prince ; 

"  Regis  ad  exemplum  totus  componltur  orblfl." 

4°,  As  to  Polygamy  in  particular,  which  not 
only  Luther,  Melancthon,  and  Bucer,  the  three 
leaders  of  the  German  Reformation,  speculat- 
ively adopted, — but  to  which  above  a  dozen 
distinguished  divines  among  the  Reformers 
itood  formally  committed;  there  were  two 
orincipal  causes  which  disinclined  the  theolo- 
gians to  a  practical  application  of  the  theory. — 
The  first  of  these,  which  operated  more  espe- 
cially on  Luther  and  Melancthon,  was  the  op. 
position  it  was  sure  of  encountering  from  th« 


Appendtx.  231 

John     Zening,     Antonius     Cw,vmu8i 

Princes  of  both  branches  of  the  house  of  Sax- 
ony.— The  second,  that  the  doctrine  itself  was 
taken  np  and  carried  out  to  every  extreme  by 
odious  sects  and  odious  divines ;  in  a  word,  it 
had  become  fly-blown.  The  Sacramentarian 
Carlstadt's  public  adoption  of  it,  tended  princi- 
pally to  disgust  Luther,  and  in  a  less  degree 
Melancthon ;  for  Carlstadt's  doctrines  were,  in 
the  mass,  an  abomination  to  these  two  reform- 
ers :  but  the  polygamist  excesses  of  the  hated 
Anabaptists,  in  the  last  season  of  their  reign  in 
Munster,  revolted  all  rational  minds  5  and,  as  I 
said,  (what  Mr.  Hare  strangely  misunderstands,) 
homoeopathically  broke  the  force  of  the  epi- 
demic throughout  Germany  and  Europe. 

Specially :  the  Landgrave's  bigamy  has  been 
mistaken  in  its  more  essential  circumstances, 
from  a  want  of  the  requisite  information,  both 
by  Protestant  and  Catholic  writers;  and  by 
none  almost  more  than  by  the  recent  editor  of 
the  Corpus  Reformatorum,  Dr.  Bretschneider. 
Touching  this  transaction,  I  shall  now  state  in 
general  a  few  of  the  more  necessary  facts ;  of 
which,  however  startling,  I  have  irrecusable 
proof,  —proof  which,  before  long,  I  may  rally 


232  Appendix, 


Adam  Kraft,  ofFulda,  Justus  Wmther, 

detail,  as  indeed  I  ought  ere  this  perhaps  to 
have  done. 

The  sanction  of  Luther  and  Melanctbon  to 
the  Landgrave's  second  marriage  was  com- 
pelled. Prudentially,  and  for  special  reasons 
which  I  shall  not  now  enumerate,  they  were 
strongly  averse  from  this  proceeding,  on  the 
part  of  that  Prince ;  but  on  principle,  they,  un- 
fortunately could  not  oppose  it.  They  had 
both  promulgated  opinions  in  favor  of  polygamy, 
to  the  extent  of  vindicating  to  the  spiritual 
minister  a  right  of  private  dispensation,  and  to 
the  temporal  magistrate  the  right  of  establishing 
the  practice,  if  he  chose,  by  public  law.  Thej 
had  even  tendered  (what  is  unknown,  though 
the  consultation  has  been  published  for  centu- 
ries, to  all  English  historians,) — tendered  their 
counsel  to  Henry  VIII.,  advising  him,  in  his 
own  case,  to  a  plurality  of  wives.  Without, 
however,  showing  at  present  how  the  screw 
was  actually  applied,  I  may  notice  generally 
that  their  acquiescence  was  extorted,  through 
Martin  Bucer,  a  reformer  and  man  of  geniui 
»nly  inferior  to  themselves ;  whilst  the  proceed- 
ing of  the  Landgrave  was  zealously  encouraged, 


Appe7idix.  233 

Balthasar  Raidajf — "  we  cannot  advise 

and  the  scruples  of  the  second  Landgravint 
effectually  overcome,  by  the  two  conrt  preach- 
ers, the  two  courtly  chaplains,  Dionysius  Me- 
lander  and  John  Lening ;  Melander  and  Lening 
being  also  the  Pastors  of  the  two  parishes  where 
lay  the  princely  residences  of  Cassel  and  Mel- 
8ingen,  therefore  were  they,  in  all  respects,  the 
appropriate  spiritual  advisers  of  their  territorial 
lord.  Thus  these  three  divines,  apart  from  the 
Prince,  were  the  prime  movers  in  this  scandal- 
ous affair ;  and  in  contrast  to  them,  Luther  and 
Melancthon  certainly  show  in  favorable  relief. 

Bucer  (Butzer,  Putzer,  Felinus,) — "  Cat  by 
name,  and  Oat  by  nature,"  the  lesser  Martin 


5  The  list  of  the  divines  who  concurred  in 
the  landgrave's  bigamy  is  here  given  more  fully 
and  accurately  (though  without  the  synonymes) 
than  in  any  other  relative  publication, — and  ot 
luch  I  am  now  acquainted,  I  believe,  with  all. 
The  consilium  was  drawn  up  by  Luther  and 
Melancthon  at  "Wittemberg,  19th  December, 
1539.  It  was  then  signed  by  Bucer ;  and  after- 
rards  in  Hesse,  by  the  other  six  divines,  wh« 
▼ere  all  subjects  of  the  Landgrave. 

20* 


234  Appendix. 

that  the  license  of  marrying  more  wivei 

had  previously  merited  from  Luther  the  charac- 
ter of  "  lying  varlet ;"  and  he  consistently  dis- 
plays himself  in  the  seqnel  of  this  business  as 
guilty  of  Mendacity  in  every  possible  degree. 
To  those,  however,  acquainted  with  the  real 
htstcry  of  the  Reformation,  Bucer  is  known, 
with  much  ability  and  many  amiable  qualities, 
as,  in  fact,  the  &me  damnee*  of  that  revolution. 
But  he  was  not,  at  least,  a  simultaneous  polyga- 
mist,  as  asserted  by  some  Catholic  historians. 

Dionysius  Melander  (Schwartze)  did  not  belie 
either  his  name  or  his  surname.  Though  an 
eloquent  preacher,  and  "the  Reformer  of  Frank- 
fort," yet  was  he  as  worthy  a  minister  of  Bac- 
chus, as  an  unworthy  minister  of  Christ ;  pro- 
fessing as  he  did,  "  that  he  lived  and  wished  to 
live  only  for  the  taste  of  wine."  Neither  shall 
we  marvel  how  a  Protestant  Bishop,  Superin- 
tendent, Inspector,  like  Melander,  could  bestow 
the  spiritual  benediction  on  his  master's  bigamy; 
when  aware  of  the  still  higher  marvel,  that 
Melander  the  Inspector,  Superintendent,  Pro- 
testant Metropolitan  of  Hesse,  was  (the  moral 
negro!)  at  and  before  the  time,  himself  a  fni- 
tAMiST,  that  is,  to  avoid  all  possible  ambiguity 


Appendix.  235 

than  one  be  publicly  introduced,  and, 

khe  husband  of  three  wives  at  once.  The  Prince 
thus  followed  at  a  distance,  not  only  the  pre- 
cept, but  the  example  of  the  Pastor. 

John,  or,  as  the  reverend  divine  was  very 
irreverently  called,  Leno  Lenning,  seems,  with 
both  learning  and  ability,  to  have  been  a  Pan- 
darus  and  Caliban  in  one ;  so  that  the  epithets 
of  "  monster,"  &c,  applied  to  him  by  Luther 
and  Melancthon,  suited  indifferently  his  defor- 
mities moral  and  physical.  The  Pastor  of  Mel- 
singen  was,  as  Melancthon  informs  us,  like  his 
Prince,  a  syphilitic  saint,  (nor  touching  either 
Prince  or  Pastor,  do  I  found  on  any  testimony, 
hitherto  adduced,  on  any  testimony,  euphemis- 
tic or  ambiguous) ;  and  this  worthy  undertook 
the  congenial  task  of  converting  Margaret  von 
der  Sahl  to  the  new  faith  of  Polygamy.  The 
precious  book,  indeed,  which,  for  the  purpose 
he  composed  and  sanctimoniously  addressed  to 
that  "virtuous  Lady  and  beloved  sister  in 
Christ,"  is  still  extant.  If  an  adulterer,  Lenning 
does  not  appear,  like  his  fellow-laborer  Melan- 
der,  to  have  been,  in  practice  at  least,  a  simul- 
taneous polygamist;  but  when  left  a  veteran 


Appendix, 


as  it  were  ratified  by  law."  (Such  leg 
tslation,  in  fact,  no  dependent  Prince 
— no  feudatory  of  the  Empire  was  war- 
ranted to  authorize.)  "  If  anything 
were  allowed  to  get  into  print  on  this 
head,  your  Highness,"  (Philip,  Land- 
grave of  Hesse,  champion  of  the  Refor- 
mation, who,  having  lost,  as  he  pleads, 
conceit  of  his  wife,  being  touched  with 
scruples  of  conscience  at  his  adultery, 
but  which  he  [thrice]  admits  that  "  he 
does  not  wish  to  abstain  from"  and 
"  knowing,"  as  he  tells  themselves,  "  of 
Luther  and  Melancthon  having  exhort' 
ed  the  King  of  England  not  to  divorce 

sian  monster  "  incontinently  married  a  nursery 
girl,  Barbara  Biedenkap,  as  I  recollect  by  name, 
from  tbe  household  of  his  pervert,  "the  left 
Landgravine,"  and  keeper  of  her  eighth  child. 

With  such  precept  and  such  example,  w« 
ghall  not  be  surprised,  that  the  Hessian  morali 
tecame  soon  notoriously  the  most  corrupt  in 
Germany,  I  ought,  perhaps,  to  say,  in  Christen 
iom. 


Appendix.  237 

his  first  queen,  but  to  marry  a  second 
over  and  above," — had  applied  to  the 
leading  doctors  of  the  Kefortnation  for 
their  spiritual  sanction  to  take  anothei 
wife,) — "  your  Highness  easily  compre 
hends  that  it  would  be  understood  and 
received  as  a  precept,  whence  much 
scandal  and   many  difficulties  would 

arise Your  Highness  should  bo 

pleased  to  consider  the  excessive  scan- 
dal; that  the  enemies  of  the  Gospel 
would  exclaim,  that  we,  like  the  Ana- 
baptists, have  adopted  the  practice  of 
polygamy,  that  the  Evangelicals,  as  the 
Turks,  allow  themselves  the  indulgence 
of  a  plurality  of  wives.  .  .  .  But  in  cer- 
tain cases  there  is  room  for  Dispenses 
Hon.  If  any  one  (for  example)  detain- 
ed captive  in  a  foreign  country,  should 
there  take  unto  himself  a  second  wife 
for  the  good  of  his  body  and  health  .  . . 
in  these  cases,  we  know  not  by  what 
•eason  a  man  could  be  condemned,  who 


Appendix, 


marries  an  additional  wife,  with  th« 
advice  of  his  Pastor,  not  for  the  purpose 
of  introducing  a  new  law,  but  of  satis- 
fying his  own  necessity.  ...  In  fine,  ii 
your  Highness  be  fully  and  finally  re- 
solved to  marry  yet  another  wife ;  we 
judge,  that  this  ought  to  be  done  se- 
creUy,  as  has  been  said  above,  in  speak- 
ing of  the  Dispensation,  so  that  it  be 
known  only  to  your  Highness,  to  the 
Lady,  and  to  a  few  faithful  persons 
obliged  to  silence,  under  the  seal  of  con- 
fession ;  hence  no  attacks  or  scandal  oi 
any  moment  would  ensue.  For  there 
is  nothing  unusual  in  princes  keeping 
concubines;  and  although  the  lower 
orders  may  not  perceive  the  excuses  of 
the  thing,  the  more  intelligent  know 
Uow  to  make  allowance"6 

•  The  nuptials  were  performed  in  presence 
of  these  witnesses, — Melancthon,  Bucer,  Melon* 
der  [who  officiated,  Raida,  who  acted  as  Nota* 
ryt]  with  others;  and  privately,  in  order,  as  th« 


Appendix, 


DX)  Biblical  Criticism. — (i.)  "The 

marriage-contract  bears,  "  to  avoid  scandal,  see- 
ing that,  in  modern  times,  it  has  been  unusual 
to  have  two  wives  at  once,  although  in  this  case 
it  he  Christian  and  lawful." — The  Landgrave 
marvelously  contrived  to  live  in  harmony  with 
both  his  wives,  and  had  a  large  family  by  each. 
The  date  of  the  transaction  is  the  end  of  1539. 
The  relative  documents  were  published  in  1679, 
by  the  Elector  Palatine,  Charles  Lewis,  and  are 
said  to  have  converted,  among  others,  a  de- 
scendant of  Philip  Prince  Ernest  of  Hesse,  to 
the  Catholic  Church.  It  has,  in  fact,  been 
stated  by  (now  recovered)  historians,  that  the 
doctrine  of  Luther  touching  marriage,  and  the 
practice  of  the  Landgrave,  were  the  obstacles 
which  prevented  the  Emperor  Ferdinand  I. 
from  declaring  for  the  Reformation ;  and  some 
distinguished  converts  have  openly  ascribed 
their  desertion  of  Protestantism  to  the  same 
cause.  A  corresponding  opinion  of  Dr.  Henke, 
ate  Primarius  Professor  of  Theology  in  Helm- 
rtadt,  would  have  figured,  had  he  known  it. 
with  admirable  effect,  in  Mr.  Pearson's  cata- 
logue of  modern  Teutonic  heresies.  "  Monog- 
amy, "  (says  that  celebrated  divine,)  "  and  the 


240  Appendix 


books  of  the  Kings  are  more  worthy  of 

prohibition  of  extra  matrimonial  connections, 
are  to  be  viewed  as  the  remnants  of  monachism 
and  of  an  uninquiring  faith."  However  detest- 
able this  doctrine,  the  bold  avowal  of  the  ra- 
tionalist is  honorable,  when  contrasted  with 
the  skulking  compromise  of  all  protessed  prin- 
ciple, by  men  calling  themselves — "  The  Evan- 
gelicals."— Renouncing  the  Pope,  they  arrogate 
the  power  of  the  keys  to  an  extent  never  pre- 
tended to  by  any  successor  of  St.  Peter ;  and 
proclaiming  themselves  to  the  world  for  the 
Apostles  of  a  purified  faith,  they  can  secretly, 
trembling  only  at  discovery,  authorize,  in  name 
of  the  Gospel,  a  dispensation  of  the  moral  law. 
Compared  with  Luther  [?]  or  Cranmer,  how 
respectable  is  the  character  of  Knox. 

Before  1843,  I  had  become  aware,  that  this 
last  statement  was  incorrect ;  and  in  a  supple- 
mental note  to  a  pamphlet  published  by  me  in 
that  year,  I  made  the  following  retractation : — 
44 1  do  not  found  my  statement  of  the  general 
opinion  of  Luther  and  Melancthon  in  favor  oi 
polygamy,  on  their  special  allowance  of  a  second 
wife  to  Philip  the  Magnanimous,  or  on  any  ex- 
pressions contained  in  their  Consilium  on  that 


Appendix.  241 

credit  than  the  Books  of  the  Chronicles." 

occasion.  On  the  contrary,  that  Consilium, 
and  the  circumstances  under  which  it  was  given, 
may  be,  indeed  always  Tiave  been,  adduced  to 
show,  that  in  the  case  of  the  Landgrave  they 
made  a  sacrifice  of  eternal  principle  to  tempo- 
rary expedience.  The  reverse  of  this  I  am  able 
to  prove,  in  a  chronological  series  of  testimonies 
by  them  to  the  religious  legality  of  polygamy, 
as  a  general  institution,  consecutively  down- 
wards from  their  earliest  commentaries  on  the 
Scriptures,  [not  as  Mr.  Hare  perverts  it  (p.  840) 
"  their  commentaries  on  the  earliest  books  of 
Scripture,"]  and  other  purely  abstract  treatises. 
So  far,  therefore,  was  there  from  being  any  dis- 
graceful compromise  of  principle  in  the  sanction 
accorded  by  them  to  the  bigamy  of  the  Land- 
grave of  Hesse,  they  only,  in  that  case,  carried 
their  speculative  doctrine  (held,  by  the  way, 
also  by  Milton,)  into  practice;  although  the 
prudence  they  had  by  that  time  acquired,  ren- 
dered them,  on  worldly  grounds,  averse  from 
their  sanction  being  made  publicly  known.  I 
am  the  more  anxious  to  correct  this  general 
Inistake  touching  the  motives  of  these  illustrioui 
taen,  because  I  was  myself,  on  a  former  oeca- 
21 


242  Appendix 


[Colloqtria,  c.  lix.  §  6.] — (ii.)  "The  book 
Df  Esther,  I  toss  into  the  Elbe."7  [lb.]— 

sion,  led  to  join  in  the  injustice." — (Be  not 
Schismatics,  &c,  p.  59,  8d.  ed.) 

1  Soon  after  the  publication  of  this  article,  I 
became  aware,  that  Esther  was  here  a  mistake 
for  Esdras;  and  this  by  the  verse  quoted.  The 
error  stands  in  all  Aurifaber's  editions  of  the 
Table  Talk ;  his  text  is  taken  by  Walch,  and 
from  Walch  I  translated.  It  is  corrected,  how- 
ever, in  the  recensions  by  Stangwald  and  Sel- 
neocer,  and,  of  course,  in  the  new  edition  of  the 

Oolloquia  by  Bindseil As  to  my  error ;  I 

may  say  in  excuse,  if  excuse  be  needed,  that  at 
the  time  of  writing  the  article,  not  only  was  I 
compelled  to  make  the  extracts  without  any 
leisure  for  deliberation;  but  I  recollected, 
though  the  book  was  not  at  hand,  that  Luther, 
in  his  work  on  the  Bondage  of  the  Will,  had 
declared  that  Esther  ought  to  be  extruded  from 
the  canon, — a  judgment  familiar  to  every  tyro 
even  in  biblical  criticism.  His  concluding  wordi 
are : — M  dignior  omnibus,  me  judice,  qui  extra 
Comonem  Iwiheret/wr"  (Jena  Latin,  iii.  182.) 
Esther,  I  thus  knew,  was  repudiated  by  Luther, 
and  among  nis  formulas  of  dismissal  the  preced 


Apjpendix.  243 

[u  And  when  the  Doctor  was  correcting 
the  second  book  of  the  Maccabees,  he 
said: — ]  I  am  so  an  enemy  to  the  book 
of  Esther,  that  I  would  it  did  not  exist ; 
for  it  Judaises  too  much,  and  hath  in 
it  a  great  deal  of  heathenish  naughti- 
ness. [Then  said  Magister  Foerster," 
(the  great  Hebrew  Professor:) — "The 
Jews  rate  the  book  of  Esther  at  more 
than  any  of  the  prophets ;  the  prophets 
Daniel  and  Isaiah  they  absolutely  con- 
temn. Whereupon  Dr.  Martinus : — It 
is  horrible  that  they,  the  Jews,  should 
despise  the  noblest  predictions  of  these 
two  holy  prophets;  the  one  of  whom 
teaches  and  preaches  Christ  in  all  rich- 
ness and  purity,  whilst  the  other  por- 
trays and  describes,  in  the  most  certain 
manner,  monarchies  and  empires  along 
with  the  kingdom  of  Christ."  —  (iii.) 
"  Job  spake  not,  therefore,  as  it  stands 

ing  recommended  itself  as  at  once  the  moM 
eharacteristic  and  the  shortest. 


244  Appendix. 

writteD  in  his  book,  but  hath  had  such 
cogitations.  ...  It  is  a  sheer  argumen* 
turn  fabulae.  ...  It  is  probable  that  Sol- 
omon made  and  wrote  this  book."  [lb.] 
— (iv.)  "  So  also  have  the  Proverbs 
of  Solomon  been  collected  by  others, 
[caught  up  from  the  king's  mouth, 
when  he  spake  them  at  table  or  else- 
where: and  those  are  well  marked, 
wherein  the  royal  majesty  and  wisdom 
shine  conspicuous."8  (lb.)] — (v.)  "This 
book  (Ecclesiastes)  ought  to  have  been 
more  full ;  there  is  too  much  of  broken 
matter  in  it ;  it  has  neither  boots  nor 
spurs,  but  rides  only  in  socks,  as  I  myself 

8  This  is  illustrated  by  what  Luther  says  in 
the  Standing  Preface  on  the  Preacher  of  Solo- 
mon, which  dates  from  1524.  "This  bool^ 
also,  of  the  Proverbs  of  Solomon,  has  been  pieced 
together  by  others ;  and  among  his,  have  been 
Inserted  the  doctrine  and  sayings  of  sundry 
wise  men. — Item,  the  Song  of  Solomon  appears, 
m  like  manner,  as  a  pieced  book,  taken  bj 
others  out  of  Solomon's  mouth." 


Appendix.  245 

when  in  the  cloister.  .  .  .  Solomon  hath 
not  therefore  written  this  book,  which 
hath  been  made  in  the  days  of  the  Mac- 
cabees by  the  Son  of  Sirach.  It  is  like 
a  Talmud  compiled  from  many  books 
perhaps  in  Egypt,  from  the  Library 
of  King  Ptolemy  Energetes."9  [lb.] — 
(vi.)  "  Isaiah  hath  borrowed  his  whole 
art  and  knowledge  from  David  ont  of 
the  Psalter."10    [lb.  c.  Ix.  §  10.]— (vii) 

9  I  now  doubt  not  that  Luther  used  the  word 
Ecclesiasticus,  which  the  reporter  heard  as  Ec- 
clesiastes,  appending  afterwards  the  translation 
of  The  Preacher  ;  for  the  quotation  is  from  the 
Table-Talk.  I  think  no  one  will  dispute  this 
who  compares,  inter  alia,  Luther's  "Preface 
to  the  Book  of  Jesus  Sirach,"  to  be  found,  as 
all  the  others,  in  Walch's  edition  of  his  works, 
(xiv.  91.)  The  mistake  has  also,  I  see,  escaped 
Dr.  Bindseil,  in  his  conclusion  of  Fcerstemann's 
(ate  elaborate,  though  by  no  means  adequate, 
edition  of  the  Oolloquia. 

io  Luther  also  (lb.  §  23)  says:— "Moses  and 
David  are  the  two  highest  prophets.  "What 
Isaiah  hath,  that  he  takes  out  of  David,  and 
21* 


246  Appendix 


"  The  history  of  Jonah  is  so  monstrous, 
that  it  is  absolutely  incredible."11  [lb.] 

the  other  propliets  do  in  like  manner."  This  I 
presume  to  think  inconsistent  with  a  true  doc- 
trine of  revelation.  Inspiration  borrowing ! — 
Inspiration  imitating  I  I  did  not  however  sup- 
pose that,  reprehensible  as  might  be  the  ex- 
pression, Luther  denied  the  prophetic  gift  of 
Isaiah. 

11 1  quoted  these  words  of  Luther  to  show  in 
how  irreverent  a  manner  he  thought  himself 
privileged  to  speak  of  the  Holy  Scriptures. . . . 
Melancthon  had  fallen  ill  at  Weimar  from  con- 
trition and  fear  for  the  part  he  had  been  led  to 
take  in  the  Landgrave's  polygamy;  his  life  was 
even  in  danger.  Luther  came ;  and  Melancthon 
is  one  of  the  three  persons  whom  the  Eeformer 
afterwards  boasts  of  having  raised  miraculously 
from  the  dead.  . .  "  Allda  (saget  Lutherus)  muss- 
te  mir  unser  Herr  Gott  herhalten.  Denn  ich 
warf  ihm  den  sack  fuer  die  Thuere,  und  rieb 
Ihm  die  Ohren  mit  alien  promissionibus  exaudi- 
endarum  precum,  die  ich  in  der  heilige  Schrift 
to.  erzaehlen  wusste,  dass  er  mich  musste  erhce- 
ren,  wo  ich  anders  seinen  verheissungen  trauen 
•ollte."     (May  I  indeed  venture  to  translate 


Appendix.  247 

-(viii.)  "  That  the  Epistle  to  the  He- 
brews is  not  by  Saint  Paul ;  nor  indeed 
by  any  apostle,  is  shown  by  chap.  ii.  3. 
...  It  is  by  an  excellently  learned  man, 

this?)  "'Then  and  there,'  said  Luther,  'I 
made  our  Lord  God  to  smart  for  it.  For  I 
threw  him  down  the  sack  before  the  door,  and 
rubbed  his  ears  with  all  his  promises  of  hearing 
prayer  which  I  knew  how  to  recapitulate  from 
Holy  Writ,  so  that  he  could  not  but  hearken  to 
me,  should  I  ever  again  place  any  reliance  on 
his  promises. "'....  Luther  believed,  that  no- 
thing could  oe  refused  to  his  earnest  supplica- 
tion; and  accordingly  he  declares,  that  it  re- 
quired only  that  he  should  sincerely  ask  for  the 
destruction  of  the  world,  to  precipitate  the  ad- 
vent of  the  last  day.  This  doctrine  was  carried 
to  every  its  most  absurd  extreme  by  the  other 
reformers;  and  even  the  trigamist  prelate  of 
Cassel,  the  wine-bibbing  Melander,  exhorted 
Ms  clergy  to  pray  for  a  plentiful  hop-harvest, 
that,  (as  his  son  or  grandson  records,)  though 
himself  abominating  beer,  there  might  thus  be 
a  less  demand  for  wine,  and  he,  accordingly 
allowed  to  indulge  more  cheaply  in  the  juiot 
of  the  grape. 


248  Appendix. 

a  disciple  of  the  Apostles.  ...  It  should 
be  no  stumbling-block,  if  there  be  found 
in  it  a  mixture  of  wood,  straw,  hay." 
[Standing  Preface  in  Luther's  Yer 
sion.] — (ix.)  "The  Epistle  of  James, 
I  account  the  writing  of  no  apostle.'* 
[Standing  Preface.]  "  /St.  James' s  Epis- 
tie  is  truly  an  Epistle  of  straw  [in  con- 
trast to  them,"  ("  the  right  and  noblest 
books  of  the  New  Testament")  "  for  it 
hath  in  it  no  evangelical  character."18 

12  In  various  of  his  works,  and  from  an  early 
to  the  latest  period,  Luther  denied  the  canon- 
icity  of  St.  James's  Epistle.  To  adduce  only  a 
few  of  hs  testimonies: — In  1519,  in  the  sev- 
enth Thesis  against  Eck,  he  declares  it  "  wholly 
inferior  to  the  apostolic  majesty ;"  and  in  the 
following  year,  in  the  Chapter  on  Sacraments, 
of  his  Babylonish  Captivity,  "  unworthy  of  an 
apostolic  spirit."  In  1522,  in  a  conclusion,  after- 
wards  omitted,  of  the  Standing  Preface,  he  ex 
eludes  it  "from  the  list  of  canonical  hooks;"  an 
exclusion,  however,  contained  in  the  Standing 
Preface  itself,  in  addition  to  the  testimony  quo. 


Appendix.  249 


(Fragmentary  Preface  to  the  ISTew  Tes- 
tament, 1524.)]-— (x.)  "  The  Epistle  of 
Jude  is  an  abstract  or  copy  of  St.  Pe- 
ter's second  ....  and  allegeth  sayings 
and  stories  which  have  no  place  in 
Scripture."  [Standing  Preface,  &c.]— - 
(xi.)  In  the  Revelation  of  John  much 
is  wanting  to  let  me  deem  it  either 
prophetic  or  apostolical.  ...  I  can  dis- 
cover no  trace  that  it  is  established  by 
the  Holy  Spirit."     [Preface  of  1522.]18 

Tlavpa  [lev,  dA/la  fiaXa  Tuyeutg. 

ted  from  it  in  the  text.  We  find  in  the  Church 
Postills,  which  were  frequently  republished, 
Luther  asserting : — •'  This  Epistl«  was  written 
by  no  Apostle ;  no  where  indeed  is  it  fully  con- 
formable to  the  true  apostolic  character  «nd  man- 
ner, and  to  pure  doctrine."  (Walch,  xii.  76fO — 
Finally,  it  is  rejected,  as  in  doctrine  contradic- 
tory Df  St.  Paul,  in  the  Table-Talk.  (0.  lxix.  §  *.) 
18  I  have  not  deemed  it  necessary  to  quote 
anything  in  confirmation  or  supplement  of  tha 
•xtracts  from  Luther,  relative  to  the  biblical 
oooks,  except  when  Mr.  Fare  has  hazarded  his 
strictures.    On  more  than  hajfoi  my  example* 


250  Appendix. 

of  Luther's  temerarius  criticism,  he  has  been 
silent.  He  has  ventured  no  remark  in  regard 
to  the  books  of — (i.)  Kings  and  Chronicles,  (iii.) 
Job,  (v.)  Ecclesiastes,  (viii.)  Epistle  to  the  He- 
brews, (x.)  Epistle  of  Jude,  (xi.)  Apocalypse. 
The  half  of  these  likewise,  be  it  remarked,  are 
attacked  by  Luther,  regularly  and  in  writings 
formally  expounding  his  last  and  most  matured 
opinions.  So  that  even  if  Mr.  Hare  had  been 
as  successful,  as  he  is  unfortunate,  in  his  coun- 
ter-criticism,—  were,  in  fact,  all  the  extracts 
expunged,  in  regard  to  which  he  has  thought 
it  possible  to  make  a  single  objection ;  never- 
theless my  conclusion  would  still  stand  un- 
touched,— that  Luther,  though  personally  no 
rationalist,  affords  a  warrant  to  the  most  auda- 
cious of  rationalistic  assaults.  For,  as  observed, 
he  could  not  vindicate  this  license  of  judgment 
as  a  right  peculiar  to  himself— as  a  right  not 
common  to  all.  Accordingly,  the  ultra-ration- 
alist Wegscheider  dedicates  his  Institutiones 
fheologiffl  to  the  memory  of  Luther;  and  in 
what  terms  ?     "  Piis  Manibus  Martini  Lutheri ; 

....  qui Rationi  human©  suum  jus  vin- 

dicavit,  quamque  viam,  in  sacris  ad  Ohristi 
prroceptas  instaurandis,  ipse  prsaiverat,  ea  ul 
pergerent  posteros  admonuit." 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below, 
or  on  the  date  to  which  renewed.  Renewals  only: 

Tel.  No.  642-3405 
Renewals  may  be  made  4  days  priod  to  date  due. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


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